KfW5t 












V 







\ x s * « , -> \V 










4 \ A 






"^ • 



s^ 



& 




























































,\\ 


















,0 0, 






^ 






LA 

631 
•7 

.as 



UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 



The Work of Lord Brougham 
for Education in England 



BY 
AMY MARGARET GILBERT 



A THESLS 

PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMKNTS 
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
IN HISTORY 



FRANKLIN REPOSITORY 

Printers and Publishers 

Chambersburg, Pa. 

1922 



UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 



The Work of Lord Brougham 
for Education in England 



BY 

AMY MARGARET GILBERT 



A THESIS 

PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 

I\ PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS 

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

IN HISTORY 



FRANKLIN REPOSITORY 

Printers and Publishers 

Chambersburjr, Pa. 

1922 






Copyright 
AMY MARGARET GILBERT 

1922 



am 

Universal' 
Sfcp \2 iSff 



PREFACE 

It has been said that an age that has ceased to be irritated 
by the eccentricities of Lord Brougham is prepared to be in- 
terested in small details about him. The subject of this thesis 
gives opportunity for the presentation of such details in one 
of the many fields in which he was interested. The work does 
not profess to be a biography, nor does it deal with the theory 
and practice of education. Its object is to trace the educa- 
tional work of this prominent man in the proper setting of 
personal history and the conditions of the time. 

Lord Brougham's exertions in the cause of education merit 
recognition. He, above other statesmen of his time, appre- 
ciated the danger arising from popular ignorance. He suc- 
ceeded in revealing the actual educational status of the coun- 
try and attracted public attention to the subject. 

Every branch and form of education felt his influence. His 
life, extending as it did from 1 778 to 1868, not only coin- 
cided with the evolution of a national system of elementary 
instruction, but for many years presented the history of that 
evolution. He helped establish infant schools; he was the 
promoter of institutions for the elevation of the working man; 
he founded one university and was the patron of others; he 
advocated the repeal of the "Taxes on Knowledge"; and by 
means of a prolific pen he did all in his power to make edu- 
cation accessible to all classes. He propounded schemes for 
legislation, which, although failing of adoption, announced 
principles later to be embodied in the more successful plans of 
others. And when it became expedient to yield the responsi- 
bility of sponsoring measures he did not cease to follow with 
an active interest the course of events. 

Due to the nature of the subject, government publications 
and the works of Lord Brougham have been the main sources. 



II Preface 



Pamphlets and periodical literature, especially for the record 
of adult education, have been invaluable; while biography and 
memoirs have contributed interesting comments and criticisms. 
I desire to express my obligation to Prof. Edward P. Chey- 
ney, under whose direction this thesis was written, and to 
Prof. William E. Lingelbach for their encouragement and 
helpful criticisms and suggestions. I also acknowledge the aid 
of Mr. Asa D. Dickinson and others of the staff of the Library 
of the University of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Bunford Samuel 
and Miss E. V. Lamberton of the Ridgway Branch of the Li- 
brary Company of Philadelphia. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

A. Early Life and Intellectual Interests in Edinburgh 1 

B. The British and Foreign School Society 5 

CHAPTER II 
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 

A. Select Committee on Education, 1816 14 

B. Select Committee on Education, 1817 19 

C. Select Committee on Education, 1818, and the Bill 

for Charity Commission, 1818 20 

D. Charitable Foundations Bill, 1819 35 

E. Bill of 1820 39 

CHAPTER III 
THE INFANT SCHOOL 50 

CHAPTER IV 
ADULT EDUCATION 

A. The Mechanics' Institute and the Society for the Dif- 

fusion of Useful Knowledge 55 

B. London University 73 

CHAPTER V 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS 

A. Grant of 1833 79 

B. Taxes on Knowledge 86 

C. Resolutions of 1835 89 

D. Education Bills of 1837 & 1838 94 

E. Committee of Privy Council on Education 101 

F. Bill of 1839 105 

G. The Social Science Association Ill 

H. Conclusion 114 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 116 



The Work of Lord Brougham for 
Education in England 

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

A. Early Life and Intellectual Interests in Edinburgh. 

When, in 1805, at the age of twenty seven, Henry Brough- 
am came to London, it was with full consciousness that he 
was beginning a new chapter of his life. This move, which to 
him was the first step toward a political career, was the result 
of a prolonged deliberation. To the urgings of his friends 
James Loch and Francis Horner a latent discontent had made 
him susceptible. The Scottish bar to which he had been 
called as an advocate in 1 800, unattractive from the first, had 
become more odious each year. Edinburgh seemed to lack 
prospects for one who, at the age when a sublime success is 
the only goal contemplated, knew he would "rise near the top 
in the end". ' 

They were no mean talents, the direction of which was of 
so much concern to the owner. They had already gained a 
considerable reputation for him. From childhood he had won 
the appellation of a prodigy. His father, an Englishman, up- 
on marriage to a Scottish lass had settled in Edinburgh. Here 
Henry grew up with all of the advantages of the parish school 
system of Scotland. This system he later extolled as cherish- 
ing higher objects than mere learning and inculcating a nobler 
ambition than the mere acquisition of prosody and the dead 
languages. "' Moreover, through personal association with his 
great uncle, Dr. Adams, head-master of the high school, who 
was a sincere and warm lover of liberty, Brougham early be- 



J Broughlaim amd His Early Friends, II, p. 34. 
2 Auitx>bi):igreupJiy of Brouigharn, III, p. 9. 



The Work of Lord Brougham 



gan to entertain feelings of abhorrence for every kind of op- 
pression. 

In school and outside he manifested an insatiable thirst for 
knowledge and a singular aptitude for acquiring it. At 
twelve he was reading Laplace's Mecanique Celeste in French 
and at fourteen he entered the University of Edinburgh. He 
delighted in the study of mathematics and science and at 
eighteen sent a paper to the Royal Society on "Experiments 
and Observations on . . . Light", which was read and printed in 
the Society's Transactions. After finishing the four year 
course of humanity and philosophy at the University in 1 795 
he began to read law. In 1 797 he was admitted to the Specu- 
lative Society of Edinburgh, where with Francis Horner, 
Henry Petty, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne, and others 
he distinguished himself in lively debates. * 

From the first, happy over any opportunity to correct his 
master and display his erudition, these new evidences of dis- 
tinction fostered an unbounded self-confidence. His life of 
close application to scholarly pursuits engendered a sense of 
independence which contemned the ordinary rules of life. He 
could work from morning to between two and three the next 
morning "as cheerfully as if it were all pleasure or exercise". 4 
Recreation was indulged in with the same restless energy. In 
college days he was the ringleader of groups who went about 
twisting off door knockers and delighting in riotous sports. 

But in spite of prominence, or perhaps for that very reason, 
Brougham was not happy. He felt the loneliness of conscious 
superiority and craved the companionship of a sympathetic 
understanding. In the letters to Loch we have glimpses into 
his soul which are rarely allowed later. He wrote, August 20, 
1802, that Loch was the only person he could unbosom him- 
self to and again that he liked him better than anyone else, 



* Dictionary National Biography. 

4 Brougham and His Early Friends, I, p. 364. 

'Ibid.. I, p. 364. 



for Education in England 3 

man, woman, or child.'' The very composition of his nature, 
however, deprived him of the love and confidence for which 
he yearned. Cynical in attitude, fond of display, his pride 
subjected him to the ruling passion of dominance. A great 
discontent had made him its victim and law and the Parlia- 
ment house were becoming more distasteful every day. "Noth- 
ing but absolute necessity can keep me at it", he wrote, " — 
I mean the total want of a substitute for it". ' And so it was that 
in study he constantly sought relief. 

"Study — Labour of the mind — carried to such an excess as 
to become labour of the body also. This is the business of 
every man under forty; this is the sweetest of all works; this is 
the most light of all burthens; the most invaluable of all bless- 
ings. It is a good independent of all the ills of life, supremely 
and principally our own, subject to no fates, times, or seasons, 
pleasant in itself, and quickly and surely returning a plenteous 
harvest." 8 

He was deep in The Colonial Policy which he was writing 
and was constantly asking Loch to look up books for him and 
transact business with his publishers. Then, too, as if by the 
"chapter of accidents", in which he said he had not much con- 
fidence, it was in the summer of 1 802 that preparations were 
being made for the launching of the Edinburgh Review. This 
work was to contain what former reviews rarely had, disserta- 
tions on the subject as well as accounts of and criticisms of the 
articles reviewed. 9 There was, at first, no organized staff of 
editors, Jeffrey, Sydney, Francis Horner, some professors of 
Edinburgh University, and Brougham being the contributors. 
With its refreshing audacity and intellectual opposition to es- 
tablished ideas this publication was a most appropriate outlet 



6 IbkL, I, p. 285. 

7 Ibid., I. p. 238. 

8 Ibid., II, p. 141. 

9 Aultobiograipdiy otf Brougham, I, p. 1(51. 



4 The Work of Lord Brougham 

for the restlessness of Brougham. To the first number he con- 
tributed three of the twenty nine articles and to the first four 
numbers twenty one, and four jointly with others. 10 On Janu- 
ary 28, 1803 he wrote: "Though I am not one of the editors 
they gave of their tens and twenties and I had lit- 
erally to Write, 1 may say the whole". 11 In the first twenty 
numbers he had as many as eighty articles. It was this review 
which, as the organ of the Whigs, was to be the champion of 
the education movement in England. The very first number 
contained an article by Horner on "Cristison's General Diffu- 
sion of Knowledge, One Great Cause of the Prosperity of 
Northern Britain". Brougham was to use it as his chief chan- 
nel for publishing his views on the subject, and as his instru- 
ment against opposing forces. 

And so it was that on November 7, 1 802 he wrote to Loch 
that the Parliament house, his book and the Review "will 
work me hard this winter, but thank God I can bear any- 
thing". 12 From his literary pursuits and political inquiries he 
derived considerable satisfaction. His hope of ultimately turn- 
ing himself to some great use was not extinguished and in the 
meantime he was contented not to "sink to the muddy bottom 
of Scots Law". 

For what the change should be was a great question. 

"The English Bar is in a very great degree tedious, and to 
say the least of it, somewhat uncertain. I look forward with 
no small horror to five years' dull, unvaried drudgery; which 
must be undergone to obtain the privilege of drudging still 
harder, among a set of disagreeable people of brutal manners 
and confined talents; any opening abroad seems a matter of 
extreme difficulty at present, at least to one who has no sort 
of interest. The army is indeed a resource, but it is the last, 
and only for incurables; besides, I have been too long of 



1 Ibid., I, p. 161. 

1 Brougham and His Early Friends, II, p. 32. 

1 IbM., II, p. 364. 



for Education in England 



thinking of it. For the same reason the East Indies seems out 
of the question; and any civil appointment as secretaryships, 
etc., in the West Indies is, I suppose, as difficult to be procur- 
ed as one in Europe I leave you [Loch] to judge 

whether study, to which I constantly fly for occupation, can be 
of any great relief. It is, however, cheaper than dissipation, 
and is attended with some improvement which may enable 
one to profit by the chapter of accidents." 

But in 1803 he had sufficient will power to choose the first 
of these alternatives. He was entered at Lincoln's Inn and 
two years later took up his residence in London. Here he read 
English law and supported himself mainly by writing for the 
Edinburgh Review, his versatility and power of dispatch stand- 
ing him in good stead. 

B. The British and Foreign School Society. 

Life in London offered a variety of interests to one who 
had an insatiable curiosity about all things. Primarily inter- 
ested in his own advancement, it was with eagerness and zeal 
that he sought to participate in the questions of the time and 
any movement which was gaining prominence. 

At the Borough Road, London, .there was flourishing a new 
phenomenon in education, which had already excited the at- 
tention of the King and nobility and had aroused the Church 
of England from its indifference. A thousand pupils were 
being taught reading and writing and arithmetic under the 
leadership of one Joseph Lancaster, a poor, unpretentious 
Quaker. Older boys, first instructed in the details of the les- 
son by the master, drilled groups of pupils entrusted to them. 
The order and the cheerfulness of the school and the military 
precision of the teaching had from the beginning attracted 
public observation. 14 

London, at the beginning of the century, was caught in the 



13 Ibid., II. p. 344. 

14 Binns, p. 10. 



6 The Work of Lord Brougham 

grip of the Industrial Revolution. The factory system was 
drawing to the city great crowds of the working classes. This 
sudden growth of population involved the increase of child 
labor. Moral evils in child life arose and a generation was 
springing up with little knowledge on any subject save the auto- 
matic skill necessary within the limits of daily factory work. 
Before 1803 only one twenty first of the population of Eng- 
land had any opportunity for instruction; 1 ' in 1805 the State 
had actual charge of 200,000 children of paupers, for whose 
education no provision was made. 14 ' 

Perhaps no country had as many ancient institutions for 
educational purposes as England; and yet, with proportionally 
the greatest means, the least was effected. Wealthy persons 
placed their children first under a tutor or in a private school, 
then sent them for secondary education to one of the great 
public schools and lastly to Oxford or Cambridge. 17 For the 
children of the middle classes boarding schools and day 
schools, opened on private speculation, were the common 
medium of instruction. Endowed grammar schools consti- 
tuted a very insufficient supply for them and infant schools 
were entirely lacking. is Keeping school was considered a 
business venture, with pecuniary advantage the principal ob- 
ject, and the establishments flourished or went to ruin ac- 
cording to the qualifications of the master. The working 
classes fared worst. There was little possibility for their 
children to attend a grammar school. Although originally 
intended for rich and poor, the endowments had not obviated 
fees, Which were now prohibitive to the poor. Their educa- 
tion was chiefly learning to read and write and was confined 
to the Sunday Schools, factory schools, schools of industry, 



15 Hansard, II, c. 49-89. 
18 Adlamis, p. 44. 

17 Hill, I, 202. 

18 Paifliilamemflary Papers, Vol. 716. 



for Education in England 



charity schools (either endowed or unendowed), and dame 
schools. 19 

The Sunday School movement had been inaugurated in 
1 780 by Robert Raikes. As the number of day schools was 
much too small, and the children employed for six days in the 
fields and manufactories were unable to attend them, the idea 
of having schools on Sunday was conceived. For three or 
four hours weekly such schools were open, when young men 
and women belonging to different religious congregations vol- 
unteered their services to teach reading and occasionally 
writing and arithmetic. 20 

A few factories had schools connected with them before 
the clause in the Factory Act of 1 802 attempted to make ele- 
mentary education compulsory for apprentices. But this pro- 
vision was almost an entire failure, for there is testimony to 
show that only six of the two thousand mill-owners made any 
change in consequence of the act. J1 Certain schools of indus- 
try existed in various parts of the country where children were 
made to be more or less self-supporting by some industrial 
occupation. 

There were endowed charity schools, in which children of 
the poor were not only taught but sometimes provided with 
clothes. Besides, there was a class of unendowed charity 
schools, which had been established in the preceding century 
by the "Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge". 
In most of them education seems to have gone no further than 
instruction in reading the Bible, with knowledge of the Prayer 
Book and perhaps writing. " Apart from general inadequacy, 
abuses and misapplication of funds restricted their influence 
to narrow limits. 

Children who were too young to work were sometimes 



in Hill, I, p. 102. 
20 Riaiuimer, p. 405. 
"Hill, I, p. 102. 
- 2 Binnis, p. 4. 



8 The Work of Lord Brougham 

placed in charge of "dames" or of men physically and 
mentally unfit for efficient service, who in return for a few 
penny fees "kept school" in their kitchen, sitting-room or 
bedroom, amid the scenes of domestic occupations. The 
highest standard attained was the power of reading a little in 
the New Testament. ~ 3 

But by far the most of the children were left to provide for 
themselves and roam the streets at will. It was not surprising, 
therefore, that when Joseph Lancaster began to gather to- 
gether and teach the waifs of his neighborhood, his scheme 
met with encouragement by the community at large. For 
England at this time was not a hard-hearted and indifferent 
nation. This was an age of philanthropy, following upon one 
of religious revival. 2i Although the policy of laissez-faire in 
matters of education was strictly adhered to by the Govern- 
ment, a group of thoughtful men and women had a more hu- 
mane social outlook. Elementary education was looked upon 
by them as a means of preventing crime. While it was 
thought unwise to elevate the lower orders above their station 
in life, there was a widespread opinion that every child 
should be taught to read the Scriptures, and the King in his 
interview with Lancaster in 1805 expressed the desire that 
every poor child should have this ability. "' 

Royal patronage had brought fame to Joseph Lancaster. 
Subscriptions to the institution had been begun eariy and in 
1 806 a published list showed a thousand contributors. But 
in that year the "Royal Free School", as it was then called, be- 
gan to get into debt, for the enterprise had been greatly ex- 
panded. "" As his youthful teachers had become more trust- 
worthy Lancaster had found himself at leisure to accept in- 
vitations which had been pouring in to visit various localities 



- 3 P. P., Vofl. 711. 

24 Dord John Russell, iby Stuart Redd, p. 24. 

M Bimns, p. 13. 

26 Ibid., ip. 13. 



for Education in England 9 

and explain his methods. In this way many new schools were 
established and placed under the care of men he had trained. 
But he was lavish in his expenditures and proved himself un- 
suited to the public responsibility which had been bestowed 
upon him. In January 1 808, when his debts had reached 
£5000, two friends, Joseph Fox and William Corston, came to 
his aid, and together constituted "The Royal Lancastrian As- 
sociation", of which the three were to be the managers. By 
July two other names, William Allen and Joseph Forster, were 
added to the committee; and before the end of 1810 these 
men deemed it necessary to greatly extend the membership. 27 

It was Henry Brougham, who as "an old friend" was con- 
sulted and at length on December 1 4, in Lancaster's absence, 
a meeting of influential supporters was held at the Thatched 
House Tavern in St. James' Street with Brougham in the 
chair. 2S A committee of forty-seven was appointed to raise the 
necessary funds. The Duke of Bedford and Lord Somerville 
were presidents and Brougham, Whitbread, Wilberforce, Sam- 
uel Romilly, "Francis Horner, Thomas Clarkson and James 
Mill were among the members. 2 ' 

By this time Brougham had become an eminent figure and 
his definite public support meant much to the movement. He 
was a frequent visitor at Holland House and had early been 
introduced into the political society of the time. His connec- 
tion with the Whig press had assured his position with that 
party and in 1 806 as a mark of favor he had been appointed 
secretary to Lords Rosslyn and St. Vincent on their mission to 
the co jrt of Lisbon. 30 In November, 1 808 he had been called 
to the bar and had joined the northern circuit, with no great 
enthusiasm for the profession, but, as his biographer Campbell 
states, he had sufficiently "legalised his mind" to deal with 



27 Ibid., p. 20. 

28 Hansard, 3 S., XXXIX, c. 448. 
29 Bianis, p. 51. 

30 Dictionary of National Biography. 



1 The Work of Lord Brougham 

the cases that came before him. Then in 1 8 1 he entered 
Parliament, having been given the seat for Camelford, which 
■was entirely within the patronage of the Duke of Bedford." 

Lancaster was aware that his work was now in the hands 
of men of greater power than he; the group of friends had 
become a public society. As a strict line had to be drawn be- 
tween his private and public work, he became exasperated 
and established a separate school at Tooting. But he soon 
had to appeal for more aid and it was then decided to sepa- 
rate the association entirely from his interference and manage- 
ment. 

Meetings were held in 1 8 1 3 in Kensington Palace and a 
constitution and by-laws were drawn up by Francis Place. 3 " 
On May 21, 1814 the title was changed to "The British and 
Foreign School Society". Brougham moved the resolution 
for the formation of the society and explained the object it 
was to have in view.' 8 

From the first it was the purpose of the committee to pro- 
vide schools all over the country on an inclusive religious 
basis. They should be established, supported and managed 
by local people, but the society would guarantee their main- 
tenance, assisting them from its own treasury whenever a tem- 
porary stringency in local funds might occur. The only re- 
striction was that the schools were to give no denominational 
teaching. Church folk, Dissenters, Roman Catholics and Un- 
itarians were all to be received/ 4 Brougham had told Wil- 



31 Autobiography /of Brougham, I, 339. 

32 Binims, p. 65. 

33 Harvard, 3 S., XXII, c. 543. 

34 Terms 'Of adtmilslslilon to Union as given by the secretary tio the Edu- 
cation Gamimiittee of Ithe House of Commons: 

"If amy parity or pantiles fin any given town wish ito establish a 
school in connection with ,the British and Foreign School (Society and 
oommiunlioalte to ithait effect, 'the committee generally will aid them 
by a grant of School materials, by training for them a teacher, and 
sometimes by a small donation; the only condition enjoined befing, 
that itfhey ishail adopt the great Heading principle of the society, riz. 



for Education in England 1 1 

liam Allen that he would "blow up the whole Lancastrian 
concern if he should find a tendency for converting it into an 
instrument of bigotry and superstition"." 

The society had been sponsored for the most part by Whigs 
and Dissenters. In the face of this activity the Church became 
concerned and decided that its influence had to be combat- 
ted. To this end in 1811 "The National Society for Promot- 
ing the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Estab- 
lished Church" was founded, taking over the educational 
work of the old "Society for the Promotion of Christian 
Knowledge". Children of all denominations were admitted, 
but all were obliged to receive instruction in the liturgy and 
catechism of the Established Church of England and were re- 
quired to attend its prayers and services. 36 Churchmen were 
exhorted to support their own schools and an intense rivalry 
between the two societies ensued. 

Although a Churchman, Brougham did not desert the first 
camp. He became one of the vice-presidents and continued 
to hold the position until his death. In 1820 differences of 
opinion were partially to estrange him from the society but 
the bonds of fellowship were never broken, and he even took 
the chair at the annual meeting in 1835. 3 ' 



thaJt the school shall ibe ©pen on equal terms to all religious denomina- 
tions, and ithia't no catechisms or creed shall be introduced. Those are 
the only terms required." Hiilil, I, p. 59. 

35 Wallas, Life of Francis Place, p. 109. 

36 Form ,of application for admission to the Union as given by the 
secretary before the Education Committee ioif ithe House of Com- 
mons : 

"In ithese schools ithe National system of teaching will be adopted as 
far as is practicable. The children will be insinuated in ithe Liturgy 
and Catechism of the Established Church, and constantly ia)ttend di- 
vine service at their parish church, or other place of worship under 
the establishment, unless such reasons be assigned for their nomat- 
itendlance as lare satisifdtory to ithe persons having the dinedtion of 
the islohools. No religious tracts 'will be used in the schools, but such 
as are contained in the catalogue Of (the Society fioir Promoting 
Christian Knowledge. Annual or other communications on their 
state and progress will be made, as required by ithe practice Of the 
National Society." Hill, I, p. 59. 



1 2 The Work of Lord Brougham 

The rivalry of the societies was made more acute by the 
controversy over the origin of the monitorial system. The 
schools of the National Society were carried on in accordance 
with the ideas of Dr. Andrew Bell, and monitors were used. 
The two societies were soon involved in a hot dispute as to 
whether Lancaster or Bell was the author of this method. 
Much was written and the dispute did a great deal to make 
more prominent the whole venture in education. Brougham's 
own opinion was that if Dr. Bell was the inventor of the sys- 
tem it was, as far as he was concerned, a hidden invention, 
which had never shed a blessing on mankind and that Joseph 
Lancaster was the first person who taught schools in England 
in a practical way on that plan. * 8 

The societies were for many years the chief means for the 
establishment of schools for the laboring classes. The bond 
which held the schools of each together was entirely depend- 
ent on their own discretion and the similarity of the principles 
which they adopted. On the other hand, it included neither 
dependence, superintendence, scientific direction, nor any 
form of regulations. 80 

From the first, Brougham's interest in the cause of educa- 
tion had been genuine. A person of scholarly habits, to whom 
the cultivation of his own mind had seemed "the most in- 
valuable of all blessings", appreciated the value of learning. 
What impressed him was that the children of the poor were 
growing up, by hundreds and thousands, untaught, undisci- 
plined and uncivilized, graduating almost inevitably in vice 
and crime. 40 The happy effects of the diffusion of knowledge 
he deemed to be, "to improve the habits of the people, to bet- 
ter their principles and to amend alll that which we call their 
characters". " 



87 Bimas, p. 102. 

88 Hansard, 3 S., XXII, c. 843. 
39 Rauimer, p. 405. 

40 Diniiis, p. 287. 



for Education in England 1 3 

Up to this time, however, his furtherance of education had 
been but one of the many projects of a busy opportunist. 
But his association with the British and Foreign School Society 
had made him realize the inefficacy of all that was being done. 
Endowments, the societies, and individuals were all working 
with no relation between them, no independent test of their 
work, no control over them if they failed in the performance 
of their tasks. Brougham saw the challenge which the situa- 
tion offered. In a letter to Wakefield, February 20, 1814, 
Place observed that he was "one of the few who saw the 
whole scope and extent of what it may lead to". 42 

It was a time when the education of the masses was put 
upon the defensive. Whitbread in 1807 had introduced a 
bill in Parliament to found a school in every parish with 
power to employ the local rates. Although passing the House 
of Commons, it was defeated in the House of Lords, for it 
met the prejudices of men who thought it expedient to keep 
the people in a state of ignorance, and who were alarmed 
lest false notions in politics and religion be spread throughout 
the country. 43 

The subject was an old one but Brougham was to be the 
first politician to make the cause his own. The popularization 
of knowledge was to be his own, sole, almost unaided act. 
While stimulating to popular patriotism, it was as a gift placed 
by fortune in the way of this young and ambitious man. For 
many years he was to be the motive force for the improvement 
of education in all its forms and branches. He set to work to 
give the subject thorough examination deprecating any rash 
entrance upon a wholesale plan of reform and preferring, on 
the score of practicability, a more gradual change. 



11 Broughamls Opinions on Education, ed. by J. O. Taylor, p. 12. 
42 wTaflia®, Ofie oif Francis Place, .p. 96. 
M Rcwuiiily Memoirs, II, ip. 207. 



1 4 The Work of Lord Brougham 

CHAPTER II 
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 

A. Select Committee on Education, ISIS. 

After being out of Parliament since September 1812, 
Brougham was given the seat for Winchelsea by Lord Dar- 
lington in July 1815. 1 Immediately upon his return, he began 
to set in motion some machinery for the furtherance of edu- 
cation of the poor in London. 2 He called the attention of the 
House to the fact that the individuals who had for some time 
associated with a view to promote education had discovered 
in the course of their inquiries scenes of ignorance, ac- 
companied by misery and vice, that were shocking to contem- 
plate. He estimated that of the population of 1,050,000 in 
London, according to the last census, no less than 200,000 
children were destitute of the means of education. However 
meritorious the National Society and the British and Foreign 
School Society were, supported as they were solely by volun- 
tary contributions and spontaneous zeal, they were not likely 
to accomplish much toward the removal of the ignorance 
which existed. His proposition was that a measure for the 
education of the poor under parliamentary sanction and with 
parliamentary aid should be tried in London; for without a 
previous experiment he would not deem it proper to bring for- 
ward any general measure. But if the experiment should be 
found to succeed, he would then recommend the extension 
of the plan to some other great towns, as Manchester and Sal- 
ford. He also urged the propriety of establishing a school 
for the preparation of school masters, in order that benevo- 
lent individuals about to establish schools might know where to 
apply for duly qualified teachers. But throughout the ar- 
rangement for public education which he hoped to see estab- 



1 Amtoibilograryiiy of Broug'hiaim, II, p. 7. 

2 Hansard, XXXIV, c. 633. 



for Education in England 1 5 

lished, he trusted that nothing would be admitted offensive to 
any religious opinions, and that care would be taken that 
nothing be allowed to interfere with the just privileges of the 
national establishment. He would be willing to take a model 
from the plan of education established in Ireland with the 
support of the Government. 

He, therefore, moved that a committee be appointed to in- 
quire into the education of the lower orders of the metropolis, 
to report observations and minutes of evidence from time to 
time and to send for persons, papers and records. 3 There was 
no opposition and on May 21, 1816 a committee was ap- 
pointed with Brougham as chairman and twenty five other 
members, among whom were Sir Samuel Romilly, Sir James 
Mackintosh, Mr. John Smith, Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Francis 
Horner, Mr. Lamb and Sir Francis Burdett. 

Two days later an instruction was added that they should 
consider what might be done with respect to the children of 
paupers who were found begging in the streets in and near 
London or who were carried about by persons asking charity, 
and who had not been sent to any of the schools provided for 
the education of poor children. 4 

The committee was organized the day after the appoint- 
ment and at once began to exert its powers with much activ- 
ity. The following circular letter" was addressed to between 
eighty and ninety masters of the various charity schools in 
London. 

"Committee on the Education of the Lower Orders, 
June 4th, 1816. 
Sir, 

I Have to require that you will furnish me with Answers to 
the following Queries, with as little delay as possible: 

1 st. What is the nature of the School with which you are 
connected? 



* Journal df H. of C, Vol. 71, p. 386. 
4 Ibid., Vol. 71, p. 386. 
6 P. P., Vol. 408, p. 313. 



1 6 The Work of Lord Brougham 



2nd. How many Children are educated there? 

3rd. What are they taught? 

4th. Is the new method of teaching [monitorial] adopted? 

5th. Are they clothed and boarded? 

6th. What is the Expense? distinguishing the Master's, 
Mistress's, and other Salaries. 

7th. What are the Funds, and how do they arise? Specify 
the particulars of the last year's Income. 

8th. What old Foundation Schools are there in your Par- 
ish; how are they endowed; how many do they teach; and 
what are their Expenses, distinguishing Salaries? 

9th. Can you estimate the Number of poor Children in 
your Parish who are without the means of Education? 

1 0th. Do the Parents of such Children show any reluctance 
to have them educated? 

I have to require that you will address your Answer to me, 
at the Select Committe on the Education of the Lower Or- 
ders, House of Commons. 

I am your obedient Servant, 

H. BROUGHAM, 

Chairman." 

Answers to this letter were received and in addition heads 
of schools and other witnesses were brought before the com- 
mittee. Brougham sat in the chair for three hours daily and 
personally conducted this inquiry." Great labor was involved 
in sifting the evidence as to the number and condition of the 
schools destined for the lower orders. Also, "conceiving, 
though the commission under which they acted did not neces- 
sarily lead them to any inquiries concerning the management 
of the higher schools, yet that it authorized them to include 
these schools at their discretion; and conceiving likewise that 
some reports that had gone abroad concerning them required 
either to be confirmed or disapproved", they called before 
them the officers and heads of the Charterhouse, Christ's Hos- 
pital and Westminster and examined them accordingly. 7 



• Hansard, 3 S., XX, c. 170. 
'ibid., XXXIV, c. 1230. 



for Education in England 1 7 

In addition, no sooner was it widely known that some kind 
of education committee had been appointed in Parliament 
than communications from various parts of the country came in 
stating instances of abuse of charitable donations and other 
funds for the instruction of the poor. 

On June 7, 1816 the committee made a first tentative re- 
port. 8 They had learned "that a very large number of poor 
children are wholly without the means of Instruction, although 
their parents appear to be generally very desirous of obtaining 
that advantage for them" and observed "the highly beneficial 
effects produced upon all those parts of the Population, which, 
assisted in whole or in part by various Charitable Institutions, 
have enjoyed the benefits of Education". Already, on ac- 
count of the number of communications from the country at 
large, they were of the opinion that Parliament should as 
speedily as possible institute an inquiry into the management 
of charitable donations and other funds for the instruction of 
the poor of the whole country, and they thought that the most 
effectual, as well as least expensive, mode of conducting such 
an inquiry would be by means of a parliamentary commission. 

Brougham reported that a committee above stairs was in- 
adequate for the task, as it cou'ld not examine on oath, and as 
it would be impossible, or very expensive, to call up persons 
from all parts of the country to give evidence. The only 
remedy was, to appoint a commission with power to go from 
place to place, and examine witnesses on the spot. More 
money would be saved to the country than would be expend- 
ed. The commission should be paid as the only means of en- 
suring its activity and bringing it under the control of the 
House. The business required dispatch, and dispatch or dili- 
gence could not be enforced upon gratuitous commissioners.' 



8 P. P. Vol. 408, p. ilii. 
• Hansard, XXIV, c. 1230. 



1 8 The Work of Lord Brougham 

On June 1 3 10 and June 1 9 a Brougham presented further ev- 
idence and on June 20 " made the fourth and final report be- 
fore the close of the session. 120,000 children in London were 
found to be without means of education, and this deficiency 
was not confined to children of one description of people or 
another, but extended to all sects and all kinds of persons in 
the lower orders. Although the poor in general were anxious 
for education, in some cases parents preferred to let their 
children out to common beggars rather than send them to 
school. From 2,000 to 4,000 children were in this situation. 
In such cases, it was suggested that forcible interference be- 
tween parent and child, whose morals the parent was corrupt- 
ing, might be resorted to. 

The number of charity and parish schools exceeded any- 
thing that could have been previously believed, and was 
highly creditable to the benevolence of the country. Even at 
a season of general distress, the funds derived from contribu- 
tions for education had been found undiminished. " 

Of the establishments created by public donations no in- 
stances of flagrant abuse were discovered in London. In the 
case of schools upon endowed foundations, however, the com- 
mittee was forced often to acknowledge and lament that the 
expenditure of the funds had "neither been so pure nor so ju- 
dicious as the intentions of the contributors were laudable and 
fervent. Instead of being employed in educating great num- 
bers with the great sums raised, those who managed expended 
them in boarding, clothing and bringing up a few, leaving the 
rest totally without the means of education." For this 
Brougham feared no remedy could be expected from legis- 
lative interference, as the funds were managed by trustees 
who objected to any change and had interest in the contin- 



10 P. P., Vdl., 408, p. 107. 

11 mid., Vol. 408, p. 165. 
" Ibid., Viol. 408, p. 271. 

18 Hamsaird, XXXIV, c. 1230. 



for Education in England 19 

uance of the system. Discussion and investigation by a com- 
mission, however, would be a warning. He estimated that a 
sum of £18,000, distributed among a certain number of 
charitable establishments, which educated and clothed only 
3,000 children, would under the new plan be sufficient to ed- 
ucate 30,000. 

The committee surmised that the country at large would 
probably require no grants from Parliament for the purpose 
of advancing ^education, but it was their opinion that London 
would. Assistance, however, should not be communicated as 
an annual grant, but merely in aid of private charity, to build 
schools and to prepare rooms. 

A great difficulty was the avoidance of religious differences. 
An emulation in well-doing, rather than a contention for su- 
periority was hoped for. 

B. Select Committee on Education, 1817. 

Brougham had given notice 14 that early in the next session 
he would bring the matter of the report before the House. 
Pursuant to this notice, on May 22, 181 7, he moved for the 
revival of the former committee. 15 He stated that a great 
deal of the evidence that was taken was necessarily ex parte, 
and was therefore susceptible of correction and revision; and 
it was desirable to afford an opportunity for obtaining that 
correction, on the part of the witnesses, by another investiga- 
tion. The motion was agreed to and the same committee, 
with the omission of four members and the addition of one, 
was appointed. Testimony was made in the House of Com- 
mons lrt to the zeal, knowledge and indefatigable exertions 
manifested by Brougham in the production of the report 
which he submitted July 7, 1817." On account of accidental 
circumstances not much progress had been made in the in- 



11 Ibid., XL, c. 1300. 
15 Ibid., XXXVI, c. 822. 
"Ibid., XXXVI, c. 1303. 
"P. P., VoU. 408, p. 325. 



20 The Work of Lord Brougham 

quiry before Parliament was dissolved, but the committee 
recommended that the subject should be taken up early in 
the next session, and they were of the opinion that it would 
be expedient to extend the instructions so as to embrace an 
inquiry into the education of the lower orders generally 
throughout England and Wales. 

C. Select Committee on Education, 1818, and the Bill 
for Charity Commission, 1818. 

On March 5, 1818, practically the same committee was re- 
vived with the more extensive powers of inquiring into the 
education of the lower orders in England and Wales, 1S and, 
on May 8, 1818, the instruction was extended to include 
Scotland. 18 In moving for the appointment of the committee, 
Brougham called attention to the annual grant given by Par- 
liament to the Irish charter sclhools since the date of the union, 
seldom less than £40,000, and hoped that Parliament would 
see the propriety of bestowing some money for a similar pur- 
pose in England. But he trusted that whatever assistance Par- 
liament might grant, would be given with great temperance 
and with the utmost precaution. To this the committee would 
probably first give attention, and next it would consider the 
expense that would be requisite in the first instance and what 
part of it might fall ultimately on the country. He was con- 
vinced that this ultimate sum would be very small, for there 
existed throughout the country large funds bequeathed by in- 
dividuals for all purposes of charity, and particularly for the 
education of the poor. These funds had in many cases been 
grossly misapplied. There had been hardly a day in the two 
years since the matter first attracted public attention in which 
he had not received an account of some misapplication — of 
schools founded or meant to be founded, two hundred years 
ago perhaps, for which purposes lands yielding a considerable 



18 Hansard, XXXVH, ic. 815. 

19 Jiauirniail of H. of C, Vol. 73, p. 330, May 8, 1818. 



for Education in England 2 1 

revenue were bequeathed, while in one place only a few 
children were taught, and in another none. But before adopt- 
ing any measures for turning the funds for education to the 
best account it was absolutely necessary to have accurate in- 
formation as to the circumstances of each endowment. 20 He, 
therefore, anticipated a recommendation to Parliament to 
adopt a plan of education for the poor throughout the coun- 
try, and to appoint a parliamentary commission to investigate 
the misapplication of charitable funds destined for the educa- 
tion of the poor. He thought it desirable, also, that a similar 
measure should be adopted for inquiring into the general mis- 
application of all charitable foundations. n 

The first report of the committee was made March 1 7, 
1818, as follows: 22 

"Your committee are proceeding in the further considera- 
tion of the Subject referred to them; but in the meantime they 
recommend the bringing in a Bill for appointing Commission- 
ers to inquire into the Abuses of Charities connected with the 
Education of the Poor, in England and Wales; that no unnec- 
essary delay may take place in prosecuting this Investigation." 

The necessity for such a measure had long been apparent. 
Abuses in the management of charitable endowments were 
glaring but they had not been properly denounced. Trustees 
had insufficient powers for profitable management or they 
were not able to turn the land to the best account. There 
were defects in the original constitution of the trusts, and a 
consequent extinction in many cases of the trustees, without 
the possibility of supplying their places. In many cases the 
funds were rendered absolutely useless by being withheld 
from the purposes for Which they were designed, while in oth- 
ers they were almost equally useless from a too strict adher- 



20 Edinburgh ReView, 30: 486. 
" Hansard, XXXVII, c. 817. 
22 P. P., Vol. 408. 



22 The Work of Lord Brougham 

ence to the letter of the foundation. There was negligence in 
all its various branches and willful and corrupt abuse. 23 

The Court of Chancery was the only tribunal which had 
cognizance of breaches of trust and other matters connected 
with charities. A series of successive decisions of men of 
great eminence had established a system for purposes of doing 
justice in cases in which the machinery of the ordinary courts 
was inapplicable; but the Court of Chancery was useless for 
small charities. Mere entry in the court, the delivery of briefs 
to counsel, and the proceedings entirely absorbed or destroyed 
a charity of small amount long before the decree was finally 
reached. The idea of expending £700 or £800 on a charity 
which amounted to £ 1 a year was absurd. 2i In 1812 Sir 
Samuel Romilly's bill lessened the expense in some degree by 
having a more summary jurisdiction in cases where the lands 
had not got into the hands of third persons but remained with 
the trustees. * 5 He provided that instead of proceeding by in- 
formation in the cases to Which the bill applied, the party 
might proceed by petition presented to the chancellor, and 
the chancellor might summarily decide the matter upon affi- 
davit. But "summarily" could not be construed in the ordi- 
nary sense and the chief result seems to have been an increase 
of vexatious suits. 26 It required an extraordinary degree of 
public spirit and a determination to make great sacrifices of 
money and personal convenience for any person to become a 
relator in such a proceeding. It was not likely that many, 
with no hope of reward or even of indemnity, would enter on 
such a course for the sake of the poor. But the small chari- 
ties were important and if properly managed would be in the 
aggregate a large sum. 



" Hansauld, XXXVTLI, c. 585. 

* 4 Ebiid., 3 S., LXXX, c. 772. 

26 Romjiilly Memoirs, Vdl. Ill, p. 350. 

28 BaMour, p. 155. 



for Education in England 23 

Brougham moved for leave to bring in a bill on the subject, 
and with Sir Samuel Romilly and Mr. Babington, he was or- 
dered to prepare it. 2 ' As presented, April 8, it provided 
that Parliament appoint eight commissioners, to be divided 
into four boards of two each, who should receive salaries, 
and who should travel about from one place to another, em- 
powered to examine witnesses on oath and call for papers, 
persons, records and deeds under penalty of commitment. 
They were to concern themselves with abuses in charities con- 
nected with education of the poor and the investigation of the 
education of the poor generally; and were to exempt the two 
universities, Westminster, Winchester and Charterhouse. To 
supplement the expensive individual complaints in the Court 
of Chancery, the commissioners were to have power to file a 
bill without cost. A semi-annual report was to be made to 
Parliament. 2S 

It had been Brougham's original intention to propose that 
the inquiry extend to all charities whatever, but he had decid- 
ed it would be advisable for the present to confine it to the 
charities for education, with an understanding that addi- 
tional powers would be given the next session to include all 
charities. There would be ample employment for the com- 
missioners for a considerable time in the metropolis and 
twenty or thirty miles around, and this would give time for 
finding out the sort of persons who could most efficaciously 
execute the provisions of the act. Another purpose would be 
gained by the delay — it would serve as a warning to those 
great bodies by whom charitable funds were abused. " 

The bill exoited no discussion in the House until it was con- 
sidered in the committee of the whole. But, outside, the news 
of the bill had spread and those connected with charities be- 



27 Jounnal of H. of C, Viol. 73, p. 192, March 17, 1818. 

28 Hamaard, XXXVIII, c. 585. 
* Ibid., XXXVII, c. 1297. 



24 The Work of Lord Brougham 

came alarmed. It was stated that the bill interfered with the 
management of charitable funds and that it intrenched on pri- 
vate property; 30 and that hardship would be involved in the 
production of deeds, as many institutions were under oath not 
to disclose them. 81 The use of force was denounced; a pe- 
tition was prepared by magistrates and trustees of certain 
public charities of Abingdon in Berkshire complaining that 
they had been calumniated in statements made to the House; 32 
and objection was made to the fact that some institutions were 
exempted. 

Brougham, on April 2 7 when the bill was in committee of 
the whole, expressed regret that a previous discussion had not 
prevented these misrepresentations. 33 The bill, he said, did 
not interfere with the management but with the mismanage- 
ment of charitable funds. It was not encroaching on private 
property. "The fact Was, that persons receiving money for 
charitable purposes were, as much as any officer of the gov- 
ernment, entrusted with public property and had a right to ac- 
count for it." As far as deeds were concerned it was only 
when the whole deed related to charity that it need be produc- 
ed; when only a part was apposite, a certified excerpt would 
be accepted, and if the deed were in the hands of agents, 
trustees or mortgagees, due notice would be given. The use or 
force was essentially necessary. He defended the examination 
of the greater schools, for even these had part of their funds 
or endowments derived from donations granted with a view 
to educating those whose means were too contracted to admit 
the expenses of these seminaries or colleges. He felt the force 
of the remark concerning the exception of some, but refusal 
might endanger the bill in certain quarters; also, he pointed 
out, that these establishments were conspicuously in the eyes 



60 Ibid., XXXVIII, c. 336. 

81 Ibid., XXXVIII, c. 585. 

82 Ibid., XXXVIII, ,c. 341. 
■ Ibid., XXXVIII, c. 341. 



for Education in England 25 

of the public and might be examined by the ordinary proceed- 
ings in Chancery and by the inquiries of the House of Com- 

34 

mons. 

The appointment of the commissioners by Parliament, he 
explained, did not proceed from jealousy of His Majesty's 
ministers but in consequence of precedents. He would not 
object to the appointment of commissioners by the ministry, 
provided the patronage would not be abused and there would 
be no ciphers. 83 

The bill was amended, at Brougham's suggestion, to include 
all charities and, as reported to the House of Lords, was en- 
titled "An Act for appointing Commissioners to inquire of the 
Charities in England and Wales, and of the Education of the 
Poor". 3 " It was late in the session when it reached the upper 
house and here it encountered the hostile opposition of the 
law authorities and a formidable body of prelates, and was 
only feebly and reluctantly supported by the ministers of the 
Crown. The second reading was called by a sort of political 
miracle and the bill reached the committee only by a majority 
of one. 8 ' Here it was so mutilated that Brougham scarcely 
recognized his own "offspring". 38 The recommendations of 
the bill were thought to be of a nature for which the country 
at that time was utterly unprepared. Lord Ellenborough de- 
nominated a plan "printed by order of the House of Com- 
mons and indicating a purpose of erecting a parliamentary 
trust of all schools in the kingdom, as a measure big with mis- 
chiefs of a most alarming magnitude"." 



"Ibid., XXXVIII, c. 585. 
65 Ibid., XXXVIII, c. 336. 
" Journal of H. of C, Vol. 73, p. 362. 

37 Brougham 'is Letter Ito Sir Samuel Romilly, Speeches, Vol. II, 
p. 65. 

38 A icomimislslion had (been suggested iafiteir the defeat of Wibitbred's 
ib ill! in 1807, but Brougham isia'id he wais unaware of this when he pro- 
posed the 'melasure. Hansard, XXXVIII, c. 585. 

19 Life and Qoorespondence of Viscount iSidmouth by Geo. Pellew, 
VOL Ill, p. 220. 



26 The Work of Lord Brougham 

Two of the three objects of the bill were rejected — the in- 
vestigation of the education of the poor generally, and the ex- 
amination of abuses of all charities. " The number of the 
commissioners was changed to fourteen, six of whom were to 
be honorary and receive no salary. No member of either 
house of Parliament was to have salary, but traveling ex- 
penses were to be provided for all. The quorum was changed 
to three, so to form three boards one of the honorary mem- 
bers would have to be added. The commissioners were not 
to be named in the bill but were to be appointed by the 
Crown. a They could traverse the country and call witnesses 
but were to possess no power of enforcing attendance, or of 
demanding the production of any document. As it was ob- 
jected that the possibility of committal might deter persons 
from acting as trustees, the commissioners were empowered 
neither to imprison nor to inflict a fine; only voluntary evi- 
dence could be called for. Moreover, they were not able to 
institute proceedings but were restricted to inquiry and re- 
port. 

The exemptions were greatly extended so as to include Ox- 
ford, Cambridge, and any college and hall within them; any 
school of which the said universities, colleges or halls were 
trustees; Winchester, Eton, Westminster, Charterhouse, Har- 
row, Rugby; all cathedral or collegiate churches in England; 
any college, free school or institution for the purpose of edu- 
cation for which special visitors were appointed by the found- 
ers; any funds for the education of Jews, Quakers, or Roman 
Catholics, and under the control of persons of such persua- 
sions. 

These changes excited the ire of Brougham and called forth 



40 Hansard, XXXVIII, c. 1242. 

41 iSltotaiities at Lange, 58 Geo. Ill, aap. XCI, Je. 10, 1818. 
^aanlsland, XXXVIII, c. 1212. 

43 Stlatiuitels 'alt Large, 58 Geo. Ill, cap. XCI, Je. 10, 1818. 



for Education in England 27 

his most impassioned invectives. 44 He denounced the bill as 
a powerless instrument, a mere mockery. The Lords had ex- 
empted the very charities where the most flagrant abuses ex- 
isted — those with special visitors; for the visitors either lived 
at a distance, or they were patrons of the school and would not 
correct the abuses to which their system led; or they were 
heirs at law of the donor and would rather pocket the funds 
than apply them to their proper purposes. It would be a mere 
farce to call for voluntary evidence only. Although there 
were more commissioners they were so divided, with three as 
a quorum, that one less board would be functioning. It had 
been objected that the courts of law afforded ample means of 
correcting abuses. But as to expedition and cheapness and 
attention to the comfort of those who were involved in the 
business of these courts, they were qualities by which they 
were not distinguished. Some persons objected to the ex- 
pense of having the commissioners inquire into small charities 
but it was just there that the necessity existed for they might 
show a larger amount in reality. 

Since the bill had been so greatly amended the Select Com- 
mittee on Education decided to reject it and proceed in the 
House of Commons by Way of address. 4 ' On June 3, 
Brougham moved — 

"That an humble Address be presented to his royal high- 
ness the Prince Regent, praying that his Royal Highness would 
be graciously pleased to issue a Commission to inquire into the 
State of Education of the Poor throughout England and 
Wales; and to report from time to time to his Royal Highness, 
and to this House thereupon". w 

The motion was so framed that it called for the creation of 
a distinct compiission in no way connected with that appoint- 



44 Haanslalnd, XXXV1LLI, c. 1212. 

43 Latter to RorniiUly, Speeches, Viol. II, p. 65. 

44 Hawsard, XXXVIII, c. 1226. 



28 The Work of Lord Brougham 

ed under the bill. It would have the effect of giving the 
House of Commons full legislative power by taking away the 
power of the House of Lords to negative a measure. For this 
the occasion was not considered serious enough and the mo- 
tion was defeated. 

But the bill, though mutilated, still contained some good. 
When Brougham considered the late period of the session he 
felt certain that unless he agreed to the amendments the 
whole measure would be lost. *' Seeing a mode of working in- 
directly, he resolved to adopt it. Although only voluntary 
evidence could be called for, a report of those who refused to 
give information would be made; then if the House would re- 
appoint the education committee the next year, it would be 
empowered to call these persons. As far as the exemption of 
charities with special visitors was concerned, the new com- 
mittee could also follow up the report of the commissioners of 
all demurrers in limine. ** He, therefore, called upon the 
House to take effective steps to render the labors of the com- 
missioners effective by resolving to reappoint the committee 
in the next session, to constitute it of the same individuals and 
to clothe it with the same powers as at present. 

Brougham could not leave the subject without making one 
more effort to make the powers of the commissioners more 
extensive. He therefore moved — 

"That an humble Address be presented to his royal high- 
ness the Prince Regent, that he would be graciously pleased 
to instruct any Commissioners who may be appointed under 
a bill entitled, 'An act for appointing Commissioners to in- 
quire of the Charities in England and Wales, and of the Edu- 
cation of the Poor', to inquire into the Abuses of Charities not 
connected with Education". 



47 Ibid., 3 S., CLXIII, c 695. 

48 Lettlter to Rtomlilly, Speeches, Vol. II, p. 65. 

49 Hansard, XXXVIII, c. 1225. 



for Education in England 29 

Upon the refusal of this he gave notice that early in the 
next session he would move for leave to bring in a bill to ap- 
point, if possible, the same commissioners to inquire into all 
abuses of charities by which the property of the poor "had 
been dilapidated and plundered by those who met with the 
sanction of some, the fellow-feeling of others, and the protec- 
tion of many — as was obvious from the vote of that night". 
This remark occasioned the accusation that he was slandering 
the House but it was insisted by Mr. Ward that Brougham had 
only pursued his usual course of "running riot against those by 
whom he had been opposed". 50 

In the course of the debate on the bill, When the possibility 
of having some honorary members of the commission without 
salary was being considered, Brougham stated in the House 
that no man could think more highly than he did of some of 
the gentlemen who he had heard would be named on the 
comlmission. As nothing but the labor could reward such an 
appointment, and no motive could engage anyone to accept 
it but a desire to see the matter conscientiously and steadily 
proceeded in, he publicly, without further ceremony, on the 
terms he had mentioned, begged to offer his own services as 
one of the commissioners. He had consulted his brother 
members of the committee, who had thought it fair that he 
should make this offer, from the part he had had in this busi- 
ness already, and from the interest which he took in the com- 
plete success of the measure. He offered only his time and 
his labor, and if he should have the good fortune to see this 
offer accepted, it would afford him the most heartfelt satis- 
faction. If incompatible with his seat in the House, he would 
resign that; for, as he believed from the bottom of his heart 
the inquiry to be one of the most important in which that 
House had ever been engaged, he did not know that he 
should think it too great a sacrifice to withdraw himself for a 

*°HbM., XXX villi, c. 1226. 



30 The Work of Lord Brougham 

while from other duties, to afford that security which he knew 
his presence on the commission would give those who were 
anxious for the success of the inquiry, that the object in view 
might be unceasingly pursued to its accomplishment. o1 

As the selection of the functionaries was vested in the 
Crown it devolved upon Lord Sidmouth, by virtue of his of- 
fice. Conspicuous for its absence was the name of Henry 
Brougham. No member of the Education Comimittee was 
put on the board to superintend the execution of their own 
measure and only two persons whom they had suggested were 
appointed. " Referring to the matter, Sidmouth commented, 

"They are attacking me vehemently in the Morning Chron- 
icle, but I am satisfied a selection was never made with more 
scrupulous caution or with more pure intentions." 

As a mode of bringing the whole matter before the public, 
Brougham, during vacation, employed his powerful pen on a 
letter to Sir Samuel Romilly. " 

"My belief is", he wrote, "that great as the errors are 
which have been committed, some good may yet be atttained 
by directing the public attention to the proceedings under 
the Act; while, at all events, the defects of that measure, and 
of the steps already taken to execute it, can only be supplied 
by a full discussion of the whole subject." 

And so he outlined the steps by which the committee had 
been prevented from pursuing their object in their own way 
and showed to whom the blame of the failure belonged. 

The Select Committee on the Education of the Lower Or- 
ders had sat a week or two after the passage of the act for 
the commissioners. This had presented an opportunity which 



Ibid., XXXVIII. c. 763. 

Letter to Romilly, Speeche's, Vol. II, p. 82. 

1 LSife and Correspondence 'of Viiscount Sidmouth, Vol. Ill, p. 220. 
1 Speeches, VioQ. II, p. 65. 



for Education in England 31 

Brougham had not failed to seize. While not particularly 
authorized to include the higher schools they might include 
them as a matter of discretion. So, as the universities, public 
schools and charities with special visitors were exempted from 
the jurisdiction of the commissioners, they occupied them- 
selves with the examination of several of these institutions. 
The result was that abuse and errors of great magnitude were 
discovered in those which were excepted. They reported: 

"That considerable unauthorized deviations have been 
made, in both Eton and Winchester, from the original plans 
of the founders; that those deviations have been dictated more 
by a regard to the interests of the Fellows than of the Schol- 
ars, who were the main objects of the foundations and of the 
founder's bounty; and that although in some respects they 
have proved beneficial upon the whole to the institutions, yet 
that they have been, by gradual encroachments in former 
times, carried too far". 55 

The committee in its final report stated that the discussion 
excited by the first report of the Committee of 1816 and the 
arguments urged in that committee to the various patrons of 
charities, who had been examined as witnesses, had had the 
effect of improving the administration of these institutions, 
and of inculcating the importance of bestowing their funds in 
educating a large number instead of giving both instruction 
and other assistance to a more confined number of children. 
"As the management of those excellent establishments is nec- 
essarily placed bey*ond the control of the Legislature it is only 
by the efforts of such candid discussions that improvements in 
them can be effected." M A vast mass of information had 
been incessantly poured into the committee. It seemed as if a 



P. P., Vial. 408, TMrd Report of Select GammJttee of 1818. 



32 The Work of Lord Brougham 

new light had broken in on the country, for from places 
where no abuses were even suspected to exist, most impor- 
tant communications and disclosures had been received. 57 

The committee further reported " s that since the appoint- 
ment of the first committee for London in 1816, notwith-i 
standing the severe pressure of the times, the exertions of 
charitable individuals and public bodies had increased, with 
the result that the means of instruction had been augmented in 
that quarter. Moreover, since the inquiries were extended to 
the whole island, the means of education for the poor were 
steadily increasing in all the considerable towns. 

A circular letter had been addressed to all the clergy of 
England, Scotland and Wales and a digest of the information 
was begun. M The returns showed the greater deficiency in 
the means of educating the poor wherever the population was 
thin and scattered over the country districts. The efforts of 
individuals combined in societies were almost wholly confined 
to populous places. But there was evidence that the anxiety 
of the poor for education was daily increasing, and extended 
to all parts of the country, and was even prevalent in the 
smaller towns and country districts. 

The committee had observed the liberality in many schools 
of the National Society where the catechism and attendance 
at church were only required of those whose parents belonged 
to the establishment. Roman Catholics were also anxious to 
avail themselves of these Protestant schools where no cate- 
chism was taught. 

Brougham had voiced the opinions of the committee con- 
cerning suggestions for promoting universal education when 
he had addressed the House of Commons on May 8. 60 Two 
different plans were advisable, one adapted to the situation 



57 Hainlslajrd, XXXViIII, c. 760. 

M P. P., Vol. 408, Thiind Report iaf Select Oomimititee of 1818. 

09 Hainisland, XXXViIII, c. 1207. 

«°llbiild., XXXVT1I, c. 585. 



for Education in England 33 

of the people in cities and towns of considerable size (where 
the population exceeded 7,000 or 8,000), and the other to 
the circumstances of the people in small towns and villages 
and in districts wholly agricultural, where hardly a village ex- 
isted. In the first, Brougham thought there existed, generally 
speaking, sufficiently ample means of instructing the poor. 

"Not that there is almost any town where all can at present 
be taught; but that the laudable exertions of individuals are 
directed everywhere to this object and are daily making such 
progress as will in time leave nothing to be wished for. So- 
cieties are formed or forming of respectable and opulent per- 
sons who besides furnishing the necessary funds, do 

not begrudge what many withhold who are liberal enough of 
pecuniary assistance — their time, their persevering and active 

personal exertions." "There can be no doubt, that 

a sufficient number of schools to educate all the poor of such 
populous places may be maintained by the voluntary contri- 
butions of such bodies, if the obstacle is removed which the 
first expense of the undertakings, the providing school-houses, 
occasions. Where so powerful a disposition to carry on this 
good work exists in the community itself, we should be very 
careful how we interfere with it by any legislative provisions. 
The greatest danger is to be apprehended of drying up those 
sources of private charity, by an unguarded interposition of 
the public authority. The associations to which I refer act for 
the poor both as benefactors, as advocates, and as trustees. 
They contribute themselves; they appeal to the community 
through the usual channels of private solicitation, of public 
meetings and of the press; they raise sums by donations to be- 
gin the undertakings, and by annual subscriptions to meet the 
current expenses; they manage the expenditure, for the most 
part, with a degree of economy, which I am afraid can never 
be hoped for in the distribution of any portion of the state 
revenue." 

Whatever the State should be disposed to do, he thought, 
should be confined to the removal of the cost of the school- 
houses. Whether the money should be vested in commission- 
ers, empowered to make the fit terms with the private parties 



34 The Work of Lord Brougham 



desirous of establishing schools, or whether a certain sum 
should be intrusted to the two great institutions in London 
might be left to Parliament to determine. 



"In the smallest towns and villages and country districts 

there is not found the same inclination to plant schools 

Where individuals live in very narrow communities, still 
more where they are scattered in the country, they have not 
the habits of assembling in meetings, and acting in bodies. 
Their zeal is not raised by the sympathy and mutual reflexion 
which constant communication excites; and even when their 
dispositions are good, they know not how to set about form- 
ing or promoting a plan which must essentially depend on 
combined operations. In such districts we certainly cannot 
expect the great work of educating the poor to be undertaken 
by the voluntary zeal of the rich. And here, therefore, it is 
that I must look forward to legislative interference, as both 
safe and necessary." 

The committee forbore to inquire minutely in what manner 
this system ought to be connected with the Church Establish- 
ment. Where means existed of erecting two schools, one for 
the Church and one for Dissenters, education would not be 
checked by an exclusive plan; but where only one school 
could be supported any regulations that excluded Dissenters 
deprived the poor of that body of all means of education. 
The committee were of the opinion that some connection 
ought to be formed with the Established Church for — 

"It is dictated by a regard to the prosperity and stability of 
both systems To place the choice of the schoolmas- 
ter in the parish vestry, subject to the approbation of the par- 
son, and the visitation of the diocesan; but to provide that 
children of sectarians shall not be compelled to learn any 
catechism or attend any Church, other than those of their 
parents, seems to Your Committee the safest path by which 
the Legislature can hope to obtain the desirable objects of se- 



for Education in England 35 

curity to the Establishment on one hand and justice to the Dis- 
senters on the other." n 

D. Charitable Foundations Bill, 1819. 

In 1819 Brougham was ready to carry out his threat of the 
preceding session to move for the reappointment of the Edu- 
cation Committee, but on the second night of the session a 
message was sent to him by Lord Castlereagh, Chancellor of 
the Exchequer, stating that he as a minister of the Crown was 
about to introduce a specific measure for augmenting the pow- 
ers of the commissioners and extending their objects of in- 
quiry. " 2 The avowed intention of such notice was to make 
Brougham postpone his motion, for the committee would then 
be rendered unnecessary. Consequently, Castlereagh on May 
2 1 moved for leave to bring in a bill "to amend the act of the 
last session appointing commissoners to inquire concerning 
charities in England for the education of the poor and to ex- 
tend the powers thereof to other charities in England and 
Wales". es He had delayed until the first semi-annual report 
of the commissioners was in, from which he had learned that 
the inquiry had given no pain or vexation to any of the parties 
concerned. 

The bill proposed that there should be twenty commission- 
ers, ten paid and ten honorary, two of whom should be a 
.quorum, except that a report to Parliament was to be drawn 
up by five. The salary was to be £ 1 000 a year and £8000 
was to be allowed for traveling and other expenses. The 
commissioners could examine on oaths and could apply to 
ithe Vice-Chancellor or the Master of the Rolls or the Court of 
the Exchequer to impose an unlimited fine upon all persons 
disobeying an order to answer questions or produce papers. 
In addition to the exemptions of the former measure, jurisdic- 



61 P. P., Vol. 408, Third Report of Select Committee of 1818. 
M Hansard, XL, c. 1308. 
* Kbid., XL, c. 660. 



36 The Work of Lord Brougham 

tion was excluded where the charities were created by volun- 
tary subscriptions from time to time and where they were 
managed by committees of the subscribers. 6i 

The greater part of this measure Brougham approved. He 
rejoiced to see that all the old clauses which the Lords had 
rejected from his bill now came recommended by ministers. 
As to the powers, that of instituting process was a great im- 
provement, although he thought it would be better for the 
commissioners to have the power of imposing a penalty and 
for the Courts of Kings Bench or Exchequer to fix the 
amount. The exception of all charities principally supported 
iby Voluntary contributions he deemed necessary to encourage 
charity. But to the exception of charities with special visitors 
he was strongly opposed. There were 40,000 charities of all 
kinds in the kingdom and of these he estimated five in every 
100, or in all 2000, had special visitors. Without supposing 
that there was any connivance on the part of the visitors, yet 
seeing there was a probability of abuses existing which had not 
come to their knowledge, there could be no objection, he 
thought, to the interference of the commissioners, who would 
inquire and not act, who would aid and not supersede the vis- 
itors. When no visitor was appointed the founder and his heirs 
were the visitors and the act of the last session had been inter- 
preted to give power to inquire where the visitor and the trustee 
were one. Was it not inconsistent that where the founder had 
such unbounded confidence in a person that he appointed him 
not only visitor but trustee there should be inquiry, while where 
strangers were appointed there was none? At first he was 
sanguine that he could persuade the House to remove this ex- 
ception, but if not, he hoped to have a clause adopted to put 
(the visitatorial power in motion and to ascertain that it was in 
motion, and he would propose an amendment to allow com- 
missioners to examine all cases in which the special! visitors 

M Ibid., XL, c 1154. 



for Education in England 37 

desired it. He also would propose another clause to empower 
the commissioners to make orders in cases of gross and pal- 
pable malversation, ■without leaving the remedy to the delays 
of Chancery. "' 

But Brougham's motions to make these changes were not 
successful. He had been aware that misrepresentations of the 
conduct of his committees had gone abroad. Scandalous li- 
bels, questions that had never been asked and persons who 
had never been examined were reported. m He was now 
forced to defend himself in the House. His present speech 
was the occasion of a long diatribe from Peel, who was 
tspokesman for the Tories. " Brougham's argument against 
ithe exemptions of charitable institutions was declared incon- 
clusive. Why had Brougham not sponsored a measure earlier 
in the session? The committee of 1816 had exceeded its au- 
thority in inquiring into the universities and public schools. 
Peel said he did not call attention to this sooner because the 
report of the first committee was printed after the session and 
that of the second, in 1817, after the dissolution of Parliament. 
Brougham's committee had contained seventeen who were 
usually with him in politics and only three who were on the 
side of the Government and who would naturally uphold the 
universities. When the bill of 1818 was proposed the com- 
mittee, rather than the Crown, wished to appoint the com- 
missioners and any two were to have power of committal. 
Such power to a newly constituted authority and for a tem- 
porary purpose! Brougham's course in some of the examina- 
tions had been most discourteous. He had also published the 
•statutes of Eton in the fourth report against the rules of the 
school after he had been told that the copy used, that in the 
British Museum, was imperfect; and on it he had made mar- 



" 5 Ibid., XL, c. 1296. 
M Ibid., XL, c. 1308. 
"Iblild., XL, c. 1300. 



38 The Work of Lord Brougham 

ginal annotations bearing the appearance of parliamentary 
(authority. On July 10, 1818 one month after the dissolution 
iof Parliament, he had sent a letter to a minister, referring 
to "inquiries now carrying on by the committee" and asking 
for a delayed report to be sent him, the chairman. In the let- 
ter to Sir Samuel Romilly Brougham had stated that in the 
Westmoreland election he had refused all applications for ac- 
cess to information of St. Bee's School. Could there be 
credit for forbearance in this when such an act would have 
been an abuse of power? 

Brougham rose to defend himself, with his weapons of 
scorn and withering sarcasm. M Against this premeditated at- 
tack of Peel's he was suddenly called upon to defend his in- 
dividual character and that of his colleagues, whose confi- 
dence he said he was proud to have enjoyed from the first day 
he had sat as their chairman, to the last when he had reported 
their proceedings; and this came at a time when almost the 
whoile committee were absent. Peel had waited a long time 
before he had complained of the course of the examinations 
and the people examined. Before this he had been silent. 
"To be sure it might not then have been so easy to raise an 
outcry against the committee — because the foul misrepresen- 
tations of its conduct out of doors had not been disseminated, 
which made it now somewhat safe to join in the attack." 
But opposition until that evening was not a spark compared 
with this flame. Eleven of his committee had been ministerial 
members and many were capable of investigating the univer- 
sities. "It was mighty well to complain of those attacks now 
as something sacrilegious, for the purpose of aiding in the 
House the insidious or ignorant clamours raised out of 
doors." 

As for his discourtesy, he appealed to any member of his 
committee who might be present to state whether Peel or any 

w Ibid., XL, c. 1308. 



for Education in England 39 

witness had a right to complain of his conduct in the chair. In 
the case of Eton no oath against publication of the statutes 
had been pleaded. "But no such oath is in law binding, or 
can stop the course of justice in the lowest tribunal in this 
country." 

It was the uniform practice of every committee long after 
the end of each session to finish the reports and other papers 
of that session and have them printed and circulated. The 
letter which Peel had referred to he had carefully worded for 
he was well aware when that letter was sent, whatever he 
might have been before, "of the endless variety of malignant 
misconstruction and foul and wicked misrepresentation to 
which any man exposed himself who acted for the benefit of 
the poor", and who "with disinterested motives, and without 
fear of obloquy, exposed the hidden mysteries of abuse". The 
first letter had been sent when the bill was expected to pass 
with the clause requiring the commissioners to examine the 
state of education generally, as well as the abuse of charities, 
and aimed to get information respecting endowments. When 
the clause was struck out it was desirable to supply defects in 
the returns as far as regarded the unendowed schools, and the 
second letter had been sent. 

It was also his privilege to lend his own notes, but he had 
abstained for he deemed it "perverting to party purposes" an 
inquiry that should be kept free from all such connection. 

Peel's rejoinder to Brougham's speech, however, was that 
gentlemen who pushed themselves forward in that House into 
public situations, such as chairmen of committees, must expect 
to have their conduct very freely and fully examined. G9 

E. Bill of 1820. 

Popular opinion had undergone a great change since the 
abortive attempt of Whitbread in 1807 for an act to found a 

"HbM., XL, C. 1308. 

The ocxmimisisiikm was reappointed and existed unitiil 1837. Brougham 
•was ohlaKnman In 1836 arad 1837. IP. P., Vol. 391 & 392. 



40 The Work of Lord Brougham 

school in every parish. His opponents had objected that if 
plowmen and mechanics were taught to read they would 
thenceforward disdain to work. It was no longer objected 
that education would prove a detriment to the poor. In the 
House of Commons in 1818 Brougham testified: 

"During this and the two last sessions, in all the discussions 
that have taken place, both in the House, in the committee and 
in the country, I have never heard a single whisper hostile to 
the universal diffusion of knowledge. Everything like oppo- 
sition to the measure itself is anxiously disclaimed by all. The 
only question entertained is touching the best, that is the 
surest and most economical, method of carrying it into ef- 
fect." 70 

On June 28, 1820 the Education Digest, which was pre- 
pared by the committee of 1818, was partially completed. ,a 
The committee had been working on it for a year but 
Brougham himself had been able to give only his summer and 
part of his vacation to it. The committee had begun by send- 
ing out a circular to the whole of the clergy of England and 
Wales, and Brougham himself had afterwards sent private 
letters. The result was a digest which exhibited "the clearest 
and most prompt information on every part of the subject". 
Tables were prepared which showed the actual state of educa- 
tion in every county, parish, and even small hamlet, and the 
defects which existed in each. Two keys were printed, one 
to the numerical tables and the other referring more par- 
ticularly to subjects. 

Based upon this, Brougham was now ready to submit a 
measure to Parliament. He was aware that it was an unfor- 
tunate moment to bring forward a question proceeding upon 
such abstract principles as this one, because for some time 
Parliament had been occupied with a topic to which the most 



Hainaand, XXXVIII, c. 585. 
EbM., N. iS., II, e. 49. 



for Education in England 41 

intense attention of the nation had been directed, namely the 
domestic troubles of King George. Queen Caroline had just 
arrived from the continent to plead her cause in person and 
had been met by the support of the Whigs and great popular 
enthusiasm. Brougham as her attorney-general was a con- 
spicuous figure of the day. 

But the education measure he said would be second to none 
in magnitude and importance. ' 2 He trusted that by the pro- 
duction of the plan he would put it in the power of the House 
to do a benefit to mankind which would exist and be widely 
felt long after the other question would have been determined 
and long after the differences Which existed between the in- 
dividuals who were more immediately connected with it, 
would have been forgotten. 

The statistics showed that England was the worst educated 
country of Europe. Only one sixteenth of the whole popula- 
tion was placed in the way of receiving an education, as com- 
pared with one ninth in Scotland. There were about 12,000 
parishes in England. Of these, 3,500 had no vestige of a 
school, 3,000 had some endowments and the rest relied on 
unendowed efforts. 200,000 of the population of England 
were unprovided for either in endowed, unendowed, dame or 
Sunday Schools, or by private tuition. 

The education in the dame schools amounted to almost 
nothing, for the children were generally sent too young and 
were taken away just when they were competent to learn. 
Brougham was of the opinion, however, that these schools 
were quite useful on account of the regularity and discipline 
which they inculcated. The Sunday Schools he thought gave 
a very small modicum of education and abcve all they did not 
give opportunity for the formation of the useful habits that 
were gained through the discipline of schools under the eye 
of a master. 

72 Ibid., N. S., II, c. 49-89. 



42 The Work of Lord Brougham 

In speaking of the relation of education to crime and pov- 
erty he claimed for education salutary and permanent effects. 
Miracles were not to be expected. "Education enlightened 
the people — it did not immediately remove them from 
crime." 

The plan which Broughman was about to propose was not 
struck out in heat but was well considered by him and the 
committee. Every part of it was warranted by the informa- 
tion laid before that body. It was, he thought, a rational, 
practicable and feasible measure. The deficiency in educa- 
tion could not be met by voluntary subscriptions alone, al- 
though the exertions of the British and Foreign Society and the 
National Society had proved most commendable. 

There was ground for apprehension that voluntary con- 
tribution might prove occasional and temporary. '* The var- 
ious rates and taxes upon the people were not lessening and 
were becoming a real burden; distress was general throughout 
the country. ' 4 After a peace of five years no considerable 
improvement had taken place in any branch of industry. 
And so it was that Brougham felt compelled to demand the aid 
of Parliament for establishing a system of elementary educa- 
tion for the people. 

The plan presented was under four heads: I. Foundation 
of Schools; II. Appointment and Removal of Masters; III. 
Admission of Scholars and their Mode of Tuition; IV. Im- 
provement of Old Education Endowments. " 

I. Foundation of Schools. 

The ecclesiastical division of the districts was adopted. 
The initiative for proceeding could be taken by the grand 
jury at the Easter sessions; the rector, vicar, perpetual curate or 



"Ibid.. 3 S., XXVII. c. 1293. 
74 Edinburgh. Review, 33: 155. 
■ Hansard, X. S., II. c. 49-89. 



for Education in England 43 

actual incumbent of each parish; two justices acting for a di- 
vision in an ecclesiastical district; or five resident household- 
ers. 

The tribunal which would then adjudicate on the subject 
was the quarter sessions. The cost of building the schools 
was to be provided by the treasurer of the county and was to 
be placed to the public account. Otherwise there might 
be an impediment to the establishment of schools, for the 
householders might be deterred from making application for 
a new school by the apprehension of being called upon at once 
for a considerable amount. Brougham advocated mak- 
ing them nothing but school-houses in the strictest sense — 
"buildings where the master and his wife, with a guardian 
to assist him, might reside, but in which no boarders should 
be admitted". All other expenses were to be levied as 
a school rate by the parish officers half-yearly. The sal- 
ary of the master, for example, should fall on the coun- 
try gentlemen. It was thought that only those parishes 
or districts that had not already voluntarily provided the 
means of education should bear that expense, and if the salary 
were locally controlled there would be a certain degree of 
control of the master's conduct as well. It was not to be less 
than £20 or more than £30. It might be objected 'that this 
was a great deal too little; but Brougham did not wish for 
sinecurists, or to take from teachers the desire of obtaining day 
pupils. He deemed it important that they should find their 
own interests immediately concerned in this particular. It was, 
in fact, important and it was his great object, that while 
measures were adopted for bringing education home to the 
doors of all, all should still pay a little for it. He was desir- 
ous of seeing the instructor live by his art, and obtain some 
remuneration from each of his pupils for his pains and the ad- 
vantages which he communicated. He, however, allowed a 
power of increasing the salary with the concurrence of two 
thirds of the householders paying the school rate. 



44 The Work of Lord Brougham 

II. Appointment and Removal of Masters. 

The master had to be between twenty-four and forty years 
of age, had to be a member of the Established Church and 
must have taken the sacrament one month before election. 
He had to present a certificate of character from a clergyman 
and three householders or from a clergyman and two house- 
holders of two parishes. Parish clerks were specially men- 
tioned as being eligible. 

The master was to be elected by the resident housekeepers, 
rated to the school raites, with the senior parish officer presid- 
ing and having the casting vote. The parson was to have a 
real and effectual veto. 

A bishop or archdeacon or dean or chancellor was to have 
the power of visitation. Such visitor could remove a master, 
who would then have to appeal from the subordinate visitor 
to the ordinary and from the ordinary to the metropolitan. 
All of these would decide privately and not as courts. The 
visitor could also direct that a master after fifteen years of 
service should be superannuated with a pension not over two 
thirds of his salary. The parson was to be allowed at all 
times to enter the schools and examine the children. The dio- 
cesan was to make yearly returns of the names of the masters, 
the number of children, their care, the salaries and the average 
emoluments, and to make remarks thereupon. 

III. Admission of Scholars and the Mode of Tuition. 

(a) Admission of Scholars. 

The parson with the parish officers as assessors was to fix 
the scale of the school pence. This was to be not less than 
2d. and not more than 4d. a week. For children receiving 
parish relief the rate was to be 2s. per quarter or 2d. per week. 
If their parents could pay this sum, so much the better; if not, 
parish officers would defray the expense. Between those who 
were thus paid for and those whose parents defrayed the 
charge Brougham said he would allow no distinction to be 



for Education in England 45 

drawn. He would "never suffer the spirits of poor children 
to be beat down and broken by such a distinction", but would 
"always, on the contrary, store their minds, as much as pos- 
sible, with the seeds of independence". 

Parents were to be allowed to agree with masters for extra 
hours, or extra tuition, as they might think proper. 

(b) Mode of Tuition. 

The parson on each new appointment of a master was to 
fix a course of teaching. The three R's were to be taught in 
all of the schools to all of the children of fit age. In religion 
the Scriptures alone were to be taught, the parson having the 
privilege of fixing the passage to be rehearsed. There was to 
be no form of worship except The Lord's Prayer and other 
passages from the Scriptures, so that no sectary could refuse 
to send his children to one of these schools. The children 
were obliged to attend church once every Sunday with their 
parents or the master; Dissenters could take their children to 
their own churches or chapels. Every Sunday evening there 
was to be a school meeting for teaching the church catechism 
and other portions of the liturgy and all children were to at- 
tend except those of Dissenters who might object. 

IV. Improvements of Old Education Endowments. 

Trustees were to be enabled to apply to the Court of Chan- 
cery or any of the courts of equity for the correction of cer- 
tain deficiencies in the powers granted them in their charters, 
and were to be enabled to improve the administration and 
application of the funds. 

The trustees of the grammar schools were to contract with 
the masters to teach the three R's. This was to be voluntary 
with the present incumbents but binding on those next ap- 
pointed. The trustees were also to make the number of 
children, now limited, unlimited and were to prohibit the tak- 
ing of boarders. Where any charity establishments, originally 
designed for the purpose of boarding, lodging and clothing, 



46 The Work of Lord Brougham 

as well as for educating the poor children, were found de- 
ficient in funds, those establishments were to be confined to 
education alone. For Brougham made it clear that it was no 
part of his views, "to establish hospitals for the children of 
paupers, by making a provision to board, lodge and clothe 
them". Such institutions were in his judgment too much cal- 
culated to remove every salutary check to an over-abundant 
population and, therefore, ought to be deprecated. 

Where the founder had designed that the children were to 
be taught in existing schools, the trustees were to treat with 
the ministers and the parish officers, or with two justices of 
the peace for having the children permanently taught in the 
parish schools. Or where funds were provided and no en- 
dowed school was in existence, the funds were to be applied 
in aid of the parish schools. In both these cases the names of 
the founders were to be placed on tablets on the outside and 
inside of the school house. 

If all parties agreed that an endowed school should be put 
on the same footing with the parish school, no objection 
could be made to that arrangement and the master was then 
subject to the approval of the parson. 

The first three sections of the plan were a modification of 
the parish school system of Scotland, established in 1 698. 
There such a plan had been started, to have universal appli- 
cation, at a time when few schools were in existence. In Eng- 
land the situation was different; the ground was already oc- 
cupied in great part by the two societies and groups who had 
voluntarily undertaken the task of educating the people. For 
this reason it was impossible to impose a system which would 
at once supersede those recognized and established institu- 
tions. According to the proposed bill the legislature was not 
requiring a school in every parish but it was providing a 
scheme whereby, at the initiative of the localities, deficiencies 
in the means of education could be met. When a school 



for Education in England 47 

would be decided upon, the schoolrate would become bind- 
ing. 

But an obligatory school rate was not the same as a com- 
pulsory system. The measure, as has been so often inferred, 
in no sense provided for compulsory education. There was no 
suggestion that parents, under the rigor of punishment, 
Should be forced to send their children to school. The object 
was to make education so feasible that no one would refuse 
to send his children to one of the schools. All were invited 
rather than compelled. 

The novel feature of the bill was the power which it placed 
in the hands of the Church of England. The memory of the 
strength of the prelates in 1818, in their opposition to the bill 
for the charity commission, was so recent that Brougham con- 
cluded he could secure the main objects of his bill only by 
large concessions to them. In presenting the bill he extolled 
the fine character of the well-educated and pious English 
Churchmen, who had manifested great zeal in the investiga- 
tions of the education committees. 6 Religious education he 
felt was most essential and it would be assured if under the 
Church. 

In taking such a course, Brougham alienated the support 
of the British and Foreign School Society, and was accused 
of deserting their principles. ' 7 The whole question of popu- 
lar education became complicated by matters of religious 
controversy and jealousy. Brougham had expressed the de- 
sire that the measure should not be pressed too hastily, in 
order that advantages might result from discussion in and out 
of Parliament. For this he had not long to wait. Before the 
second reading the cry was made that the Church supported 
the bill and Roman Catholics and Dissenters rose in alarm. ' 8 



» Ibid., N. ,S., II, c. 73. 

77 Bimus, p. 101. 

78 Haingard, N. S., II, c. 365. 



48 The Work of Lord Brougham 

It was supposed in consequence of the system's being con- 
nected with the Established Church, that it was intended to 
compel children of various denominations to attend Protestant 
worship. This feeling had operated so powerfully that some 
members of these two bodies had addressed queries to him on 
the subject. It was asked by one party if it were not true that 
it was intended to compel Roman Catholics to send their 
children to Protestant schools and Protestant worship; and 
certain Dissenters, seeming to consider this a bill introduced 
for the purpose of "rooting out the last remains of religious 
liberty in the country" had formed a "Committee for the Pro- 
tection of Religious Liberty" to watch its progress. Brougham 
insisted that there was not a man in the House, or in the 
country, more averse to anything harsh or intolerant than he 
was. He was the last man to keep up tests unless they were 
absolutely necessary and much less would he assist in extend- 
ing them. It was in vain that he reminded the Dissenters 
that he left the door of the school which he proposed to es- 
tablish "not only ajar, but thrown right back on its hinges" 
for the admission of their children. They met, they com- 
bined, they reasoned. Brougham said they felt more than 
they reasoned, and they were more led by their passions, than 
by either their feelings or their reason. Behind his back "they 
candidly avowed their opinion, they amicably stated their 
reasons, they strenuously propounded their principles, they 
constantly urged their claims". Time after time Brougham 
met them in consultation, in debate, in public and in private, 
and during jhe whole time that these discussions were carried 
on, he made but one convert. "The Church wished for edu- 
cation; but they wished to keep down the sects a little more. 
The Dissenters wished for education; but they wished to pull 
down the Church a little more." " 

79 Ubid., 3 S., L., c. 592. 



for Education in England 49 

The bill was read the second time on July 1 2 and consid- 
ered in the committee of the Whole on July 1 3. Tlhe Church; 
party itself only feebly supported it, s " and such was the op- 
position of the Dissenters that when Brougham thought that 
he had come to a full understanding with them and that the 
measure might be carried, he was compelled to withdraw it 
"out of deference to their objections" and from his "sincere 
respect for them as fellow-laborers of many years in the 
cause of education". S1 It was ordered that the bill should be 
further considered on that day six months; which, as that 
date would fall beyond the adjournment of Parliament, was 
tantamount to a defeat. 82 

Section IV. dealing with Improvements in Old Education 
Endowments and to which so much objection coiild not be 
raised, had been made into a separate bill, but this, too, met 
the same fate, when on the following day its further consid- 
eration was postponed three months. M 



80 Ibid., 3 S., CXXXV, c. 550. 

81 BbM., 3 S., iCXXXIH, c. 1. 

82 Journal of H. of €., Vol. 75, p. 447. 
M Ibild., Vol. 75, p. 452. 



50 The Work of Lord Brougham 

CHAPTER HI 
THE INFANT SCHOOL 

While Brougham had been trying to secure a national sys- 
tem of elementary education he was personally interested in 
another phase of the subject, with which he deemed govern- 
mental interference extremely inexpedient. 

In 1813 Robert Owen, a cotton manfacturer of Scotland, 
had formulated and brought to London his "New View of 
Society", ' a plan for the regeneration of the world through 
the formation of human character. Convinced that existing 
social conditions were all wrong, he called upon the Govern- 
ment to stop the progress of distress among the working classes 
and proposed that a commission be appointed to examine the 
effects of his cooperative plan at New Lanark. He repeatedly 
pressed petitions upon Parliament and it was Henry Brougham 
whom he usually secured to present them. " 

For Owen personally, Brougham had the highest respect 
and esteem. He thought him one of the most humane, simple- 
minded, amiable men on earth. He said he was indeed a rare 
character; for although a reformer he was one of the calmest 
and most candid men he had ever conversed with. 

"You might discuss his theories in any terms you pleased — 
you might dispose of his arguments just as you thought 
proper; and he listened with the utmost mildness. His nature 
was perfectly free from any gall, he had none of the feverish 
or irritable feeling which too generally belonged to project- 
ors." * 

1 "A New View of Society or Essays on the Principle of the Forma- 
tion of Human Character and the Application KHf the Principle to Prac- 
tice." Robert Owen. 1813. 

2 Cf. Owen's Autobiography Vol. I, p. 132; Hansard, XL.I, c. 1198; 
Hansard. 3 S.. LXXXVIII. c. 699; Hansard, 3 S., XGIX. c. 501; Han- 
sard, 3 S., CXV1II. c. 124. 

3 Speech of Brougham. Hansard, XLI, c. 1195. 

There was a strong resemblance (in appearance between Brougham 
and Owen. In his Autobiography, Owen recounts with ill-concealed 
pride that on a journey from London to Scotland children followed 
his carriage under the impression that Brougham was within. Owen's 
Autobiography. Vol. I, p. 228. 



for Education in England 5 1 

Brougham conceived that the theory on which Owen's 
scheme was founded was Wholly erroneous, but that certain 
parts of the plan were peculiarly entitled to consideration. 
"The system proposed and acted upon by Mr. Owen in train- 
ing infant children, before they were susceptible of What was 
generally called education, was deserving of the utmost atten- 
tion." * 

Owen had been called to explain his system of schools be- 
fore the Select Committee on Education in 1816. 5 In that 
year "The New Institution" had been opened at New Lanark, 
an important part of which was the "Infant School". 

Independent of any work on the continent Owen had origi- 
nated this form of school as a means of checking the evil ef- 
fect of the factory system on children. He had come to the 
conclusion that the houses of the poor and working people 
were unfit for the training of the young, and that the infant 
school Was necessary, based on the principle of forming char- 
acter from the earliest period at which children could leave 
their parents. * 

More than a hundred children from three to six years of 
age were brought together under two guardians, James Bu- 
chanan and May Young. No attempt was made to teach 
them reading or writing but much of their time was spent in a 
spacious playground where they were amused with games and 
stories. They were trained to haibits of order and cleanliness, 
and were constantly superintended to prevent their acquiring 
bad habits and to form their dispositions to mutual kindness. 
These results were chiefly accomplished by example and 
practice, as precept was found to be of little use. 

The fame of the institution had spread rapidly and thou- 
sands of visitors went to examine and criticize. Henry 



4 Hanisamd, XLI, c. 1195. 
B iP. P., Vol. 408, p. 240. 
'Owen's AiuitoibiJogr'aphiy, Vo/1. I, p. 135. 



52 The Work of Lord Brougham 

Brougham went frequently and Owen says "enjoyed the 
goodness, happiness and intelligence of the children in these 
rational surroundings". ' 

Brougham was greatly impressed by the importance of this 
kind of school and repeatedly commented on its value. If a 
child were neglected till six years of age no subsequent edu- 
cation, he said, could recover it. If to that age it was brought 
up in dissipation and ignorance it was in vain to attempt to 
reclaim it by teaching it reading and writing. An infant was 
in a state of perpetual enjoyment from the intensity of curi- 
osity. It learned everything sooner and better than at any 
other period of life and without any burden to itself or the 
teacher. But learning was not all, nor the principal consider- 
ation — moral habits were acquired in these schools; and by 
their means children were kept out of nurseries of obscenity, 
vulgarity, vice and blasphemy. Whether they learned less 
or more was of little consequence. The moral discipline was 
the great consideration. It brought the mind of the child 
into sufficient discipline by the age of six years, to give it all 
the advantages of the Lancastrian system afterwards. s 

Brougham had, also, while on the continent, visited the es- 
tablishment for infant education carried on since 1 806 by 
Fellenberg at Hofwyl, Switzerland. 9 But this plan he deemed 
better suited to an agricultural district where the population 
was scattered, for the children remained at the school both 
night and day. 

Owen's plan he considered better adapted to manufactur- 
ing districts and had the advantage of separating the chil- 
dren from their parents only during the day. It was calculated 
to improve the domestic habits of the people, "the child being 
allowed, by remaining with its father and mother, to acquire 
those social and domestic habits which were of so much value 



T Ibild., Vol. I, p. 142. 

8 Hansard, N. S., II, c. 87. 

• Ibid., XLiI, c. 1197. 



for Education in England 53 

in life, which begat strong ties of affection, some of the best 
and most secure bonds of mutual assistance". This system 
tended also by a sort of reflex operation to improve the habits 
of the parents themselves; for in the presence of children so 
trained "they would be ashamed of intoxication, or swearing 
or any habits that might pollute the minds or offend the feel- 
ings of those who were the objects of their attachment". 10 

With a view of making an experiment of this plan, 
Brougham and a small group of men, " who were also inter- 
ested in the subject, met together in 1818 and subscribed 
£100 each to a stock purse for the establishment of a day 
school in Brewer's Green, Westminster, where children be- 
tween three and five years of age should be admitted; and for 
the position of master they secured James Buchanan from 
Owen. The school was opened in November and for three 
mornings Brougham with the Marquis of Lansdowne per- 
sonally received the children. 12 

On December 16, 1819, in the House of Commons, 
Brougham said that the institution was going on in the most 
satisfactory manner, so satisfactory indeed that although origi- 
nating in the charity of individuals, it was soon likely to be 
supported by the interest of those who were immediately 
benefited by its existence. He expected it to compete with 
dame schools "which had heretofore proved so ve*y useful 
and to which (while children of nine or ten years of age were 
too often allowed to walk about almost as ignorant as 
beasts) infants were sent, to keep them out of harm's way, 
while their mothers went to work". Parents would naturally 
rather pay quarter-pence to the infant school than to dame 
schools. 13 



10 Ittid., XLI, c. 1195. 

"Mr. John iSmitfch : the Marquis of Lausdioiwne; Mr. James Mill; Mr. 
Powell Buxlton; Mr. Wiilhenforce; Mr. Wilson; Mr. Benjamin Smith; 
Mr. Henry Hasie; Lord Ducie. Of. Owen's Autobiography, Viol. I, p. 
142; Hansiard, 3 IS., LXXXVIH, c. 274; Hansard, 3 S., CXVIII, c. 124. 

12 Hansiand, 3 S., LXXXVIH, c 699. 

"Ibid., XLI, c. 1198. 



54 The Work of Lord Brougham 

He anticipated that the latter would get into better hands 
and be better conducted. If they were modeled after the 
school in Westminster and the schools of Fellenberg and 
Owen, he would not say that there would be neither pauper 
nor criminal in England, but he would say that Scotland or 
Switzerland would not have fewer than England even in sea- 
port towns. The expense of the infant schools was quite 
trivial. They required but little money and a dame of good 
temper, who might let the children indulge in any amuse- 
ment, always taking care, however, to keep them out of im- 
proper company. M 

But he was convinced that the assistance of the government 
was not essential to the advancement of the movement, as the 
interests of that subject might be very safely intrusted to the 
private beneficence of the country. 

To Brougham's delight the scheme met with success. Wil- 
son of the original group next founded a school in Spital- 
fields and for it obtained Wilderspin as the teacher. " Wil- 
derspin was an enterprising exponent of the new idea and a 
voluminous writer who did much to popularize the move- 
ment. Other schools on a similar principle were established 
in various parts of the country and in 1836 "The Home and 
Colonial Infant School Society" was formed to provide train- 
ins schools for infant school teachers. 



14 Ibid., N. S., II, c. ST. 

15 Ibid.. XLI. c. 1195. 

Brougham later changed his views concerning government assist- 
ance to Infant Schools. 

"Hansard. 3 S.. LXXXVIII. c. 274. 



for Education in England 55 

CHAPTER IV 
ADULT EDUCATION 
A. The Mechanics' Institute and the Society for (the Diffu- 
sion of Useful Knowledge. 

The founding of elementary and infant schools was not 
the only sign of educational life in the first two decades of the 
century. That period had witnessed a number of important 
discoveries throwing light on the phenomena of nature and 
art, and the whole country was excited about the wonders 
of geology, electricity and chemistry. A thirst for knowledge 
seemed to have arisen. Everything indicated a growing 
spirit of inquiry, an increased desire for and with it a greater 
power of acquiring knowledge. The arts and the manufac- 
tures had made rapid strides and the application of the prin- 
ciples of science to their improvement was looked to with san- 
guine expectations. ' 

This prominence of science was responsible for a movement 
of the most important kind, which gave a clearly defined pur- 
pose and shape to wants that the progress of civilization had 
created. If the "Mechanics' Institute" had not been discov- 
ered in the way it was, the time had come when it must 
have been invented, for it had become a necessity of the age. 

There has been controversy as to who started mechanics' 
institutes but the highest merit seems rather for first making 
them known arid appreciated than for any actual discovery. 
To Dr. Birkbeck is undoubtedly due the honor of having origi- 
nated the system of offering scientific instruction in an ac- 
cessible form to the working classes. ' As Professor of Natural 
Philosophy at the Andersonian University, Glasgow, he had 
his attention drawn to the difficulties in the way of intelligent 
artisans who were anxious to acquire information on scientific 



Tailt's Edinburgh Magazine, 5: 521. 
Hoile, ,p. 5. 



56 The Work of Lord Brougham 

matters and he, accordingly, in 1 800, established courses of 
lectures to which working men were admitted at a low fee. 

The desirability of imparting scientific knowledge to 
working people was felt by others as well, and between 1 800 
and 1823 the propriety of attempting this and the mode in 
which it might be accomplished were discussed in several 
publications. * Some efforts were actually made to realize the 
object. In 1 8 1 7 an institution entitled the Mechanics' Insti- 
tute was established in London B and in 1821 the Edinburgh 
Society of Arts was started. ° In 1823 the mechanics' class at 
the Andersonian University became the Glasgow Mechanics' 
Institution. ' But neither Dr. Birkbeck's labors in Glasgow 
nor any of these institutions awakened public attention to the 
subject. 

It was in 1823 that the movement received its first real 
impetus. In an article in the Mechanics' Magazine of October 
11, 1823, the editors proposed an institution in London 
similar to that at Glasgow. The proposition met with en- 
couragement from the master mechanics, the workmen, and 
the friends of knowledge and improvement. Dr. Birkbeck 
assumed the lead in the movement and on November 1 5, 
1823 a public meeting was held, a subscription was com- 
menced and rules for the institute prepared. 9 A letter was 
read from Brougham in Which he expressed regret at his in- 
ability to attend, but commended highly the objects of the 
institution and enclosed a liberal donation toward its estab- 
lishment. 10 In January the institute was opened with between 



3 Dictionary of National Biography, article on Dr. Birkbeck, Vol. V. 
p. 80. 

4 British Quarterly Review, 26 : 323. 

5 Hole, p. 5. 

6 Edinburgh Review, 41: 109. 

7 Diet. Nat. Biog., article on Dr. Birkbeck, Vol. V., p. 80. 

8 Mechanics' Magazine, 1: 99. 

9 Ibid., 1: 177. 

10 Ibid., 1: 17S. 



for Education in England 5 7 

twelve and thirteen hundred workmen enrolled, each pay- 
ing 1 £. Lectures on Mechanics and Chemistry were begun 
and soon Geometry, Hydrostatics, Astronomy and the Appli- 
cation of Chemistry to the Arts and Manufactures were add- 
ed. At the meetings Brougham was almost always present, 
"encouraging by his deep attention to the lectures the atten- 
tion of others". " And in June he was publicly thanked for 
his exertions in behalf of the institute. 

Temporary accommodations had been provided in the 
chapel in Monkwell Street; but as it was soon desirable to 
place the establishment upon a permanent footing, a site was 
secured at the Southampton Buildings, Chancery-lane. Here 
it was proposed to erect a theater for the accommodation of 
a thousand students, and commodious apartments for a li- 
brary, apparatus, reading rooms and offices. 13 At the ban- 
quet upon the occasion of laying the cornerstone on Decem- 
ber 11, 1824, Brougham, after proposing the health of Dr. 
Birkbeck, made an urgent appeal for apparatus and books. 14 
The building was completed on July 8, 1825 and was opened 
by Dr. Birkbeck "supported by his Royal Highness the Duke 
of Sussex, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Sir R. Wilson, Messrs. 
Brougham, Wood, Hume, Martin and other zealous friends 
of popular education". 1o 

It was the work of the patrons to help in the establishment 
in the first instance but the whole body of contributors were 
on the same footing of members and proprietors. The man- 
agement was entrusted to committees of which two thirds at 
least were working mechanics, and the funds were raised by 
the subscriptions of the working classes in order to secure 



"Ibid., 2: 125. 

" Ibid., 2 : 221. 

"Edrin. Rev., 41: 115. 

11 M©ciiani'ci&' Mag., 3: 189. 

15 Eddmi. Refv., 42 : 502. 



58 The Work of Lord Brougham 



the permanence of the institution and to avoid the feeling of 
dependence. 1 

As in the case of the other branches of education, 
Brougham was not the founder or originator of the move- 
ment. He, as a friend of popular education, was an active 
promoter of a plan, which he highly approved. But the 
London Mechanics' Institute, like the other institutions which 
preceded it, was an isolated effort. It remained for Brougham 
to realize the possibilities presented, to popularize the move- 
ment and make "the sacred thirst for science epidemic". By 
an article in the October, 1824, issue of the Edinburgh Re- 
view " he brought the subject prominently before the public 
for the first time. In January, 1825, thi9 article was em- 
bodied in a pamphlet entitled "Practical Observations on 
the Education of the People", and before the end of the year 
the pamphlet had reached its twentieth edition. w Upon the 
principles outlined in this dissertation mechanics' institutes 
were to be founded throughout the kingdom. 

Brougham first justified his attention to adult education. 1 
The "Practical Observations" was a portion of a larger dis- 
course which he had been prevented from finishing upon the 
subject of popular education in its three branches, infant 
schools, elementary schools for reading and writing, and 
adult schools. He had endeavored to establish infant 
schools, he had repeatedly brought the subject of elementary 
education before Parliament, and so it seemed to follow that 
he should lend his powers toward fixing public attention 
upon the education of adults, by discussing the best means 
of aiding the people in using the knowledge gained at 
schools for their moral and intellectual improvement. The 
planting of schools for the young and the assisting of those 
more advanced in their studies were enterprises which might 

18 Ibid., 42: 499. 

17 Ibid., 41: 96. 

18 Broughams Words, ed. by A. & C. Black, 11 vols., Bibliographical 
Ltistt, Nioi. 4. 

"Speeches, Vol. III. p. 99— "Practical Observations". 



for Education in England 59 

well go on together and prove mutually helpful. There was 
no reason to wait until elementary education had been com- 
pleted. It was "as if a whole village would wait for break- 
fast until everyone got up in the morning". On the con- 
trary, the deficiency in the proportion of schools to the popu- 
lation of the country would in all probability be much dimin- 
ished if useful knowledge were diffused among all those who 
had already learned to read. The greater use they made of 
this acquirement, the more widely would the desire of having 
it be spread. 

"A father of a family who can barely read, and has turned 
this talent to little account in improving his mind, may leave 
his children uneducated unless the means of instruction are 
afforded him by the state or by some other charity; but one 
who has made some progress in science, or in acquiring gen- 
eral information will rather sacrifice any personal comfort 
than suffer his children to be uneducated." 

It was far, therefore, from being true, that they should 
wait till schools were provided for ail'l and till all could read 
before they should consider how those who could read 
might best turn that faculty to account. 

But a fundamental principle merited attention in discussing 
the subject. The assistance of the Government might be not 
only safe but advantageous and even necessary in providing 
the means of elementary education for children; any med- 
dling with infant education would be inexpedient; but no 
such interference could be tolerated, to the smallest extent, 
with the subsequent instruction of the people. If a child be 
only taught to read and write, it was immaterial by whom 
and on what terms, but once suffer the least interference 
with the use to be made of these tools and the Government 
had made a step towards absolute power. Such a jealousy 
as he sought to inculcate he thought the more essentially 
necessary in a country — 



60 The Work of Lord Brougham 



"Where the existence of an Established Church, with its 
appendages of universities and public schools, has already 
thrown religious instruction into the hands of a particular 
class, and given the government great influence over the edu- 
cation, generally of the upper classes. In such a community, 
any interference with the diffusion of knowledge among the 
great body of the people would be pregnant with the most 
fatal consequences both to civil and religious liberty." 

It was manifest, he stated, that the people themselves had 
to be the great agents in accomplishing the work of their own 
education. Unless they were thoroughly impressed with a 
sense of its usefulness and resolved to make some sacrifices 
for the acquisition of it, there could be no reasonable pros- 
pect of the grand object's being attained. And so he began 
by assuming that there was no class in the community so en- 
tirely occupied with labor as not to have an hour or two every 
other day, at least, to bestow upon the pleasure of improve- 
ment to be derived from reading — or so poor as not to have 
the means of contributing something toward purchasing this 
gratification, the enjoyment of which, besides the present 
amusement, was the surest way to raise their character and 
better their condition. 

The difficulties which the people faced he classed under 
two heads — want of money and want of time. To the first 
belonged the impossibility of obtaining those books and in- 
structors which persons in easy circumstances could com- 
mand; and to the second the fact that the same books and 
instructors were not adapted to them, which sufficed to 
teach persons with leisure to go through the wh'ole course of 
any given branch of science. 

The first method, then, that suggested itself for promoting 
knowledge among the poor was the encouragement of cheap 
publications. In no country was this more needed than in 
Great Britain, where with all the expertness in manufacturing, 



for Education in England 61 

books had never been printed at so little as double the price 
required on the continent. The high price of labor, the direct 
tax on paper, the determination to print upon paper of a cer- 
tain price, and the aversion to crowd the page were the causes 
of the difference, but, it was suggested, all of these except the 
first could be obviated. The duty on paper was an excise 
Which had been levied since the reign of Queen Anne and at 
this time was 3d. on the pound. The tax increased the price 
of an octavo volume about nine pence. If a book were 
brought as low as possible to accommodate the poor man, 
with the coarsest paper and most ordinary type, it had to pay 
as much tax as the finest hot-pressed work of the same size. 
This tax, it was felt, should, by all means, be given up. But, 
though no part of it could be saved by Using coarse paper, 
much could be saved by crowding the letter press and by hav- 
ing a very narrow margin. 

The method of publishing in numbers was admirably suited 
to the circumstances of the poor. Two pence could easily be 
saved in a week by almost any laborer and by a mechanic six 
pence in a week might without difficulty be laid by. 

Although the provision of cheap publications furnished the 
most effectual means of bringing knowledge within the reach 
of a poor man's income, other modes of rendering a similar 
assistance were circulating libraries and book clubs. 

In addition, societies for the promotion of conversation 
were a most useful adjunct to any private education received 
by the working classes. It was suggested that master work- 
men assist by giving an hour off on the days when the meet- 
ings were held, and by providing a place for the meeting. 

But the institution of lectures was of all helps that could be 
given the most valuable, where circumstances permitted, i. e. 
in towns of a considerable size. The branches best adapted 
to lectures were Mechanical Philosophy, Chemistry, Mathe- 
matics, Astronomy, Geology, and Moral and Political Phil- 
osophy, i I , 



62 The Work of Lord Brougham 



"Much may thus be taught, even without any other instruc- 
tion; but, combined with reading, and subservienlt to it, the 
effects of public lectures are great indeed, especially in the 
present deficiency of proper elementary works. The stu- 
dents are enabled to read with advantage; things are explain- 
ed to them which no books sufficiently illustrate; access is af- 
forded to teachers, who can remove the difficulties which oc- 
cur perpetually in the reading of uneducated persons; a word 
may often suffice to get rid of some obstacle which would have 
impeded the unassisted student's progress for days; and then, 
whatever requires the performance of experiments to become 
intelligible, can only be learnt by the bulk of mankind at a 
lecture, inasmuch as the wealthiest alone can have such lessons 
in private and none but the most highly gifted can hope to 
master those branches of science without seeing the experi- 
ment illustrated." 

For all of the lectures it was absolutely neccessary that the 
expenses should mainly be defrayed by those for Whose bene- 
fit they were contrived. 

"It is the province of the rich to lay the foundation, by 
making certain advances which are required in the first in- 
stance, and enabling the poor to come forward, both as learn- 
ers and contributors. But no such scheme can either take a 
deep root, or spread over the country so as to produce the 
good for which it is calculated, unless its support is derived 
from those who are chiefly to reap the benefit." 

The cost of lectures in large cities would be less than in 
smaller places. 

"But it seems to us advisable, that, even where gratuitous 
assistance could be obtained, something like an adequate re- 
muneration should be afforded, both to preserve the principle 
of independence among the working classes, and to secure the 
more accurate and regular discharge of the duty." 

The most complete establishment would always be that in 
which a library was combined with the lecture; and it was ad- 



for Education in England 63 

visable that, in places where at first there was not money or 
spirit enough to begin with both, a library only should be es- 
tablished, to which the lecture might afterwards be added. 

The men themselves ought to have the chief share in the 
management of these concerns. This was essential to the suc- 
cess, and also to the independence of the undertaking; nor 
was there the least reason to apprehend mismanagement. 

After giving his "practical observations" Brougham con- 
cluded: 

"The time, we rejoice to think, is past and gone, when 
bigots could persuade mankind that the lights of philosophy 
were to be extinguished as dangerous to religion; and When 
tyrants, or their minions, could proscribe the instructors of the 
people, as enemies to their power." 

Following the circulation of Brougham's pamphlet me- 
chanics' institutes spread rapidly throughout the country. 
From January to April, 1825 thirty new mechanics' institutes 
and libraries were formed. 20 In London, also, the example 
of the original establishment was followed; an institute was 
formed in the eastern part of the city and one was begun in 
Southwark. Among the remoter parts of the country, North- 
umberland stood conspicuous; by August 1825 not a single 
market town was without a mechanics' institute. Bath, Liver- 
pool, Birmingham, Leeds soon joined the procession. 21 By 
November, eighty in all had been established. The London 
Institute had advanced rapidly after the completion of the 
theater and at this time 1 887 men were actually subscribing. M 

The diffusion of the system through the country was hardly 
a more natural or more immediate consequence of the original 
mechanics' institute than the adoption of a similar plan by 
cation from which the habits of a busy life were apt to exclude 



20 Edin. Rev., 42: 222. 

21 Ibid., 42: 501. 

22 Ibid., 43 : 247. 



64 The Work of Lord Brougham 

the trading and professional part of the community. The as- 
sociation was modeled on the mechanics' institute but one 
night each week was set apart for discussion of historical, 
moral and political questions. 

The suggestion that had circulated from London had been 
effectual to another good purpose — the extension of similar 
associations to country laborers as well as artisans. Farmers' 
book clubs also were formed. M 

Within the next few years all large towns and almost every 
village had its mechanics' institute, school of arts, association 
persons in a higher station and in easier circumstances. Early 
in 1825 men engaged in commercial pursuits formed an asso- 
ciation for the purpose of obtaining those advantages of edu- 
for popular lectures, literary and scientific institute or some 
institution in which lectures were delivered on various sub- 
jects, at hours and on terms which enabled the working classes 
to attend, and generally having a library to which those at- 
tending the lectures had free access. 

The curriculum in all of these associations was similar. 
Physical science presented the most complete and systematic 
body of knowledge possessed by man at that time and great 
results were anticipated from making the operatives acquaint- 
ed with the principles of their trades. Accordingly when in- 
stitutions were established for the education of the people, the 
experimental sciences occupied the chief place in the various 
courses of instruction and their application to the arts was held 
out as a leading inducement to attract the working classes. 
While Chemistry and Natural Philosophy were the staple 
commodities, other sciences were often given and now and 
then a course or a few lectures on Physiology and Political 
Economy were included. 29 



s * Ibid., 47 : 481. 

"IbM., 42: 501. 

15 Taiit'is- Bdiin. Mag., 5: 521. 

a6 Dbid., <5:521. 



for Education in England 65 

In the establishment of these institutions Brougham took a 
conspicuous and active part. He laid foundation stones and 
delivered the inaugural addresses on many occasions. 2T But 
he also set about at once to put into effect the recommenda- 
tions set forth in the "Practical Observations". 

He was aware of the difficulty of obtaining lecturers, and 
conceived the plan of preparing "Anonymous Lectures" which 
would be of a perfectly simple and intelligible description, 
containing the elements of science laid down in a way that 
would readily be comprehended by uneducated men. 28 It 
was necessary that the lectures be made plain enough so that 
they could be given to anyone who could merely read. His 
plan was that the first lecture should be read on one day, and 
at the next meeting of the class the same lecture should be 
read a second time together with half the second lecture, and 
then at the following meeting that half a second time with 
the latter half of the second lecture; so that every lecture 
would be read twice, giving the artisans time for discussion 
during the interval; and when their minds were whetted by 
such discussion it would be repeated and they would learn an- 
other bit. In 1825 Brougham devoted the summer to pre- 
paring a course of lectures, which were delivered for more 
than ten years in different parts of the kingdom. 20 

This system of anonymous lectures had the great advantage 
that several persons could join in preparing a course at a 
small trouble to each, every person contributing a lecture or 
two, if he could not write a whole course; and the lectures 
could be given simultaneously in many places. 

It was evident, however, that with every assistance which 
could be given by means of lectures, the education of the peo- 
ple was chiefly to be accomplished by reading. The main reli- 



27 Companion ito Newspaper 3: 356; & Quarterly Journial of Educa- 
tion, 10: 388. 

28 Speeches, Vol. Ill, p. 152. 

28 In 1835, iaJlso, he was preparing .a course of twenty four lectures. 
Speeches, VOL Ill, p. 152. 



66 The Work of Lord Brougham 

ance was ever to be on books. But elementary works that 
really met the requirements were rare indeed. Upon most 
branches of knowledge there was none which explained the 
subject to ignorant persons, persons whose habits had not 
been formed by previous study and who had not the help of 
experienced teachers at hand. This was a want felt not mere- 
ly by the working classes, but by persons of every rank in 
society. 

The ordinary reading of the people was but trashy. The 
circulating library and reading club could present merely lit- 
erary novelties. It was easier in many country towns to get 
any new work, however worthless, than many of the classics 
of English literature. so 

When Brougham recommended the preparation of cheap 
publications of value in the "Practical Observations" he an- 
nounced the expected formation of an association for promot- 
ing their composition, publication and distribution. In April 
1825, he asked Dr. Birkbeck, George Grote, William Tooke 
and others to constitute a committee for this purpose. Noth- 
ing was accomplished until November, 1826 31 when they es- 
tablished the "Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge". 
Any person could become a member by subscribing a pound 
a year to its funds, but the committee, of which Brougham was 
the chairman, was the governing body and conducted its 
affairs. 82 

In December it was advertised in the Edinburgh Review 
and other magazines that a series of elementary treatises 
would be commenced on February 1 , 182 7, under the title of 



30 London Magazine, 17: 559. 

" Dictionary of National Biography, 'article on Lord Brougham by 
Rev. Wfm. Hunt, Vo/1. VI, p. 449. 

32 Edin. Rev., 47: 127. 

As ithe society flourished siuibc/ounlmittees were established in 
various 'towns according to rules published by the central committee. 
There were aliso corresiploindents in the United States and Paris. 
Bdin. Rev., 47: 133. 



for Education in England 67 

"A Library of Useful Knowledge"; that each would unfold 
the principles of some branch of science, their proofs and il- 
lustrations, their applications to practical uses and to the ex- 
planation of facts or appearances; that in order to bring each 
subject within the limits of these treatises, the greater divi- 
sions of science would be subdivided into branches, and where 
any portion was of such practical importance as to require 
minute details, a separate treatise would be given upon it. 

Under every head there would be references to the best 
works, or parts of works, where the subject was more fully 
treated, in order that the student might be enabled to pursue 
his inquiries further, if he should have acquired a taste for it. 

The price of each treatise was not to exceed six pence. And, 
for this small sum, it was found possible to produce thirty two 
octavo pages, printed so as to equal above one hundred ordi- 
nary octavo pages. The treatises of the first eighteen months 
were to deal with Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chem- 
istry, Botany, Agriculture and History. Two were to be pub- 
lished every month and advantages in price were held out to 
distributors, as mechanics' institutes, reading societies, and 
education committees in the country. S3 

Brougham contributed the preliminary treatise on the "Ob- 
jects, Pleasures and Advantages of Science". Most of the 
treatises, however, were produced on the plan of division of 
labor. The committee derived aid from men of science and 
letters in every part of the kingdom. Sometimes a few com- 
bined and cooperated where the departments were connected; 
sometimes more persons than one were engaged on a single 
work, one supplying the matter, the others arranging and 
writing it; and it was constantly the lot of different individuals 
to revise each other's compositions. ** 

The First Yearly Report of the committee stated that a cir- 



M Edin. Rev., 45: 195. 
34 Ibid., 47:131. 



68 The Work of Lord Brougham 

culation of nearly 20,000 of each treatise had been estab- 
lished; and the preliminary treatise had reached its eighth edi- 
tion. 

But almost all of the first treatises were of an abstruse 
nature. At a meeting of the members in May, 1828, it was 
suggested that several of the scientific publications which had 
already appeared were not sufficiently adapted to the com- 
mon class of readers, and it was also thought that many per- 
sons were repulsed in their desire for information by the for- 
bidding aspect of even the most elementary didactic work that 
systematically handled the subject. To remedy these defects, 
to render the treatises accessible to every reader, and at the 
same time to entice those whose only wish was to amuse them- 
selves, and to make them learn something worth knowing, ar- 
rangements were made for adding to the Library of Useful 
Knowledge certain popular introductions to such works as re- 
quired them, and for publishing a second library, that of En- 
tertaining Knowledge. It would be the object of the latter to 
comprise "as much entertaining matter as can be given along 
with useful knowledge, and as much knowledge as can be con- 
veyed in an amusing form". The works were to be published 
in weekly numbers at the price of 6d. but the publication of no 
one was to be commenced until the whole eight numbers, 
forming a volume, were ready, so that those who could afford 
it might purchase the whole at once. 3> 

Such subjects as "Menageries — Quadrupeds described and 
drawn from Living Subjects", "Vegetable Substances used in 
the Arts", "The Pursuit of Knowledge in Difficult Circum- 
stances, including Anecdotes of Self-taught Men", "Insect 
Architecture" were treated. M ' But the society took pride in the 
fact that it never omitted a single occasion to give the useful 
reflections suggested by, or which could, by some stretch, be 
connected with, the more amusing parts of the treatises. 



"Ibid., 48: 258. 
••Ibid., 50: 181. 



for Education in England 69 

The society's success soon suggested the propriety of ex- 
tending the sphere of its exertions still further. A series of 
maps was prepared at one third or one fourth the usual price 
and lithographed copies without the names of places, to be 
filled up as an exercise by the student, were published, at 
3d. each. 3l 

The want of a Journal of Education did not escape notice. 
It was begun with the object of giving a review of the books 
used in teaching, and recording and circulating all the im- 
provements in the methods of acquiring knowledge made in 
the various parts of the world. 

The circulation of common almanacs in England was enor- 
mous. The nonsense which some of the most popular of 
these works contained, the ribaldry and indecency which dis- 
figured others, attracted the committee's attention and with 
the object of gradually leading the taste of the persons who 
purchased them into better channels they started the British 
Almanac. This with a supplement, The Companion to the 

Almanac, formed an annual register of the successive changes 
and improvements in the legislation, industry, manners and 
education of the country. 3: ' 

Another series of works was started to form a part, though 
a kind of extra part, of the Library of Useful Knowledge. The 
difficulty of inducing persons connected with country occupa- 
tions, as yeomen, farmers, cottagers, farm-servants, to devote 
any portion of their time to instructive reading had been the 
worst obstacle experienced. Their habits of life prevented 
them from associating very much, and the disposition to rest 
and sleep after working in the open air, tended to disincline 
them from improving their minds by reading. But as they 
had sufficient time, more indeed than artisans, if the whole 
year were considered, it was desirable to provide them with 



37 Quarterly Journal of Education, 2: 194. 

S8 Ibid., 2: 194. 

39 British Almanac & The Companion to the Almanac. 



70 The Work of Lord Brougham 

books. The Farmers' Series '" was started to consist of 
treatises in a very plain and popular style, upon the subjects 
most interesting, because most useful, to those conversant 
with country affairs. 

In 1831 Brougham contributed the first number of "The 
Working Man's Companion", or "The Results of Machinery, 
namely, Cheap Production and Increased Employment Exhib- 
ited"'; f ' and later his Political Philosophy was published by 
the society. 

Two of the most popular of the ventures were the Penny 
Magazine, begun in 1832, and the Penny Cyclopaedia, begun 
in 1833. Their object was to distribute really useful knowl- 
edge in a popular and attractive form. The second proved to 
be a valuable addition to any library. Neither politics nor 
party discussion found access to the Penny Magazine and yet 
it was one of the most extensively circulated periodical works 
that issued from the press. The number sold weekly was 
200,000. " 

Although the mechanics' institutes and the Society for the 
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge were gradually proving suc- 
cessful and extending their activities, the enemies of improve- 
ment had not ceased to criticize the instruction of the people 
and to ridicule the "penny sciences ". 

The Quarterly Review of October, 1825 commented that 
much of the alarm which these institutions had occasioned 
and of the opposition they had experienced, was to be at- 
tributed, undoubtedly, to the patronage and advocacy of 
Brougham. 

"It is his singular infelicity to prejudice every cause which 
he undertakes to advance: — with all the zeal, industry, and 
pertinacity, — all the power of labour, endurance and priva- 



"' Kdin. Rev., 49: 150 & 51: 526. 

" Amti .r.R'oMn. I. No. 1. 

"■Preface to Penny Magazine, Vol. 1. 



for Education in England 7 1 



tion, mental and bodily, — all the self-confidence and versa- 
tility which Sallust attributes to his hero, and far more than 
all his talent, information and eloquence, he is yet confessedly 
the most unfit of all distinguished public men of the present 
age to lead a party, or to conduct the struggle for any great 
and opposed measure. His weapons are commiseration of 
besotted ignorance, sarcasm or interested motives, assump- 
tion of measureless superiority." * 

He was warned not to inculcate an unwise and unfounded 
jealousy of the higher orders or labor to alienate those, on 
whom he would confer a great blessing, from their best 
friends and appointed guides; or to raise a spirit of which he 
could neither allay the fury nor delay the course and before 
which he would certainly fall an early victim. 

Others pointed out Brougham's lack of knowledge of hu- 
man nature. 

"Taking men as they are, we cannot expect that an hour's 
leisure, caught with difficulty in a week of labour, will be thus 

employed At all events the cause and the effect are 

alike melancholy and alike provoke a smile of sadness at the 
pleasing picture drawn by the 'Practical Observer'." 

It was scarcely possible to think that any prudent or sen- 
sible master would encourage or countenance meetings of his 
workmen, much less allow an hour off or begin early, or allow 
reading during work. 

The times were marked by a fit of alarm. There was ap- 
prehension that the mass of the people would become too pow- 
erful for the Government. If to their physical superiority the 
moral force of knowledge were added, the multitude would 
bear down all before them and shake the whole order of so- 
ciety. 



"Quarterly Review, 32: 410. 
"IbM., 32: 410. 



72 The Work of Lord Brougham 

The working classes were undergoing a change of feeling; 
they were distrusting the wealthy and aristocratic order and 
were entertaining absurd notions of equality "due to the dan- 
gerous influence of Mr. Henry Brougham and cheap litera- 
ture". a Moreover, master workmen found it unpleasant that 
their workmen should be better instructed than they. 

The church was aroused as well. 4 " The accusation against 
Brougham of aiming to be "Dictator both to the Senate and 
the People by assuming the control of universal education" 
was revived. The knowledge of particular arts and sciences, 
it was thought, was not calculated to avail much toward the 
moral or social improvement of the people. Let them be 
taught Morals, History, Biography before they were intro- 
duced to Chemistry, Hydrostatics or Astronomy. 

Mechanics' institutes continued to spread until about 1830. 
Then there was a visible decline in the number established. 
An examination of their composition showed that the bulk of 
the members did not consist of mechanics but of persons of a 
higher station of life. They were not operating solely or 
chiefly on the class for whose benefit they were designed. The 
non-existence among the poorer classes of an adequate appre- 
ciation of the instruction offered, in consequence of its over 
technical and scientific nature, and the misapprehension on the 
part of the founders of the real extent of the ignorance of the 
people were causes of this change. 4 ' 

In an address to the members of the Manchester Mechanics' 
Institute in 1835 4 * Brougham could not help but express 
disappointment that few of the 1 400 members were from the 
artisan class. He deplored their lack of appreciation of the 
advantages offered, for he was sanguine that if the working 



45 Finasier's, 2: 572. 

40 Reply ito Mr. Brougham's "Practiicail Otoervatiionls upan the Edu- 
cation of the Pedple " by E. W. GriMield. Loudon, 1825. Cf. 

Edin. Rev., 42: 206. 

41 Westniinsiter Review, 41 : 207. 
48 Speeches, Vol. Ill, p. 152. 



for Education in England 73 

classes were made more acquainted with the principles of 
their trades they would not only be better workmen and be 
more useful to their employers but they would have a chance 
of improving their position by rising in their profession. This 
education would make the people more orderly, better mem- 
bers of society and more disposed to be peaceable and obe- 
dient. Moreover, by knowledge and mental culture the peo- 
ple would be rendered happier in whatever condition they 
might be and would be prepared to appreciate the rights and 
better perform the duties of men and citizens. He would not 
exclude the middle classes, however; he was much pleased 
with their interest and he hoped that their presence would in 
the end provide a remedy for the first defect. For learning 
and improvement always made their way downwards in so- 
ciety. If the middle classes became aware of the pleasures of 
learning they would soon feel responsible for impregnating the 
lower classes with the same influence. Then he hoped that 
these very men, the artisans, would endeavor to become 
teachers and carry the benefits into the humblest class of the 
community which now sat "in the thickest darkness". 

In the hands of the middle classes the mechanics' institute 
was destined in the course of time to be greatly modified; it 
was to be elevated from a mere technical school to a society 
designed to meet all the intellectual wants of the poorer parts 
of the population. a Lyceums, popular institutes, libraries 
with a more comprehensive purpose were to be established, 
but the fact that all of these found a place in English life was 
due in no small part to the active exertions of Brougham in 
the first decade of their history. 
B. London University. 

Another suggestion of the Practical Observer was vigor- 



49 Works of general literature and fiction were introduced into the 
libraries; and lectures on literature and miscellaneous subjects be- 
came more numerous than those on scientific subjects. 



74 The Work of Lord Brougham 



ously followed up. "London University rose like an exhala- 
tion at his bidding." ° 

Brougham had stated in his pamphlet of 1825 that the 
worst consequence that would result to the upper classes, if 
the bulk of the community were educated, would be that to 
deserve being called their superiors they, too, would be 
obliged to devote themselves to the pursuit "of solid and re- 
fined learning". "The present public seminaries must be en- 
larged and some of the greater cities of the kingdom, es- 
pecially the metropolis, must not be left destitute." 

Francis Place writing of the preceding decade said: 

"Some years hence, when the exertions which have been 
made, and are still being made, to increase the desire of men 
in the middle ranks of life to have their children properly edu- 
cated shall have succeeded, it will scarcely be believed how 
difficult, not to say impossible, it was for any man who could 
not afford to pay a very large sum of money to procure an 
adequate education for his children. I do not mean a merely 
classical education, i. e. the rudiments, or very little more than 
the rudiments, of French and Latin, and some of the elements 
of mathematics, which is all that nine in every ten of those 
who are classically educated obtain; but I mean besides these 
rudiments something more than the mere elements of mathe- 
matics, modern languages, political economy, politics, and 
morals, including the broad and comprehensive doctrine of 
motives. 

"I have never yet been able to find any school, either in 
or out of the Metropolis, in which, at an expense within the 
amount which an ordinary tradesman is able to pay, he can 
have his sons taught as he wishes they should be taught, or 
even as persons in inferior stations in Scotland are taught, de- 
fective even as that education is." 51 

Higher education at Oxford and Cambridge extended little 
beyond the Church of England. At Oxford a Dissenter was 



50 Frasierte, 4: 93. 

01 Wallas, Life of Francis Place, p. 98. 



for Education in England 75 

not suffered to matriculate or enjoy instruction or any priv- 
ilege of university, college or hall. At Cambridge he might 
become a student, but could obtain no degree, hold no office, 
receive no emolument and take no part in the government of 
the university or of any foundation. " 2 

Moreover this education was confined to a few hundred 
families of the highest rank and greatest wealth, for it cost 
£250 or £300 a year " 3 for each person at one of the univer- 
sities. And as the seats of this limited education were at a 
day's journey from the metropolis, a residence there was re- 
quired. 

Immediately upon the appearance of the "Practical Obser- 
vations" Thomas Campbell, the poet, and editor of the 
Monthly Magazine, addressed Brougham a letter upon the 
subject of founding a university in London. "* With Joseph 
Hume, Isaac Lyon Goldsmid and some influential Dissenters 
these promoters held a meeting to draw up a plan, and form 
a union of all the different interests which were concerned 
with its success. 

The object of the new institution was to give the advantage 
of a university education on moderate terms and near home, 
to those who were prevented from securing such benefit on 
account of the expense of Oxford and Cambridge or the in- 
disposition of parents to let their children go from under their 
own superintendence. Moreover, Brougham wished to give 
to the middle classes an opportunity of getting that education 
at a cheaper rate which their servants, their shoemakers, their 
farriers and their blacksmiths were now getting almost for 
nothing at the different institutions which had recently been 
erected for their benefit and instruction. 



'- 1 Balfour, p. 238. 

53 Hansard, N. S., XVIII, c. 840. 

54 Edin. Rev., 42 : 222. 

50 Hansard, N. S., XVIII, c. 1033. 



76 The Work of Lord Brougham 

With respect to the institution itself, it was not intended 
that degrees should be given, fellowships or scholarships con- 
ferred; it was not intended to apply to Parliament for any of 
those exclusive privileges of which the two universities were 
then in possession. But it was intended to secure the assist- 
ance of the best professors of the sciences, letters and arts in 
all their branches; and one great object was to lay the founda- 
tion of a good medical school. 

Everyone was to be admitted without reference to religious 
opinion and, on account of their impracticability in this re- 
spect, Theology and the kindred studies of Ecclesiastical His- 
tory and Biblical Criticism were not to be taught. M 

The funds required were to be raised by shares of £100 
each and subscriptions or donations of £50. Each share was 
to have the privilege of sending a pupil to the university and 
to receive also an interest not exceeding 4%. Each shareholder 
was to have a vote at all general meetings and in the election 
of the directors. Each contributor of £50 was to have all the 
privileges of a shareholder for life only and was to receive no 
interest. The students were to pay fees to the professors, five 
guineas yearly to the general fund and one guinea to the li- 
brary. 

The executive government was to be vested in a council of 
twenty one, composed of a chancellor, vice-chancellor and 
nineteen councillors; and the council was to choose and super- 
intend all of the professors. M 

In April, 1825, Brougham announced that he would make 
early application to Parliament for a charter, but the Govern- 
ment declined the granting of the request. A bill was then 
brought into the House of Commons in May for conferring 
the same privileges, i. e. making the new institution a corporate 
body. : ' 8 



M Ibdid., N. S., XVIII, c. 1033. 
*'• Edin. Rev., 42 : 346. 
rs Hadisard, N. S., XVIII, c. 840. 



for Education in England 77 

The ministry, however, were resolved not to countenance it, 
and to save expense and delay the bill was dropped. Gross 
misapprehensions had gone forth on the subject. The prin- 
cipal objections urged against the plan were that no provision 
was made for religious instruction, that the metropolis was a 
dangerous neighborhood for youth, and that a joint stock 
company was ill adapted for superintending education. B9 

But incorporation was a privilege that was convenient but 
not necessary. On February 11, 1826 the deed of settlement 
was drawn up and in the course of the year seven acres con- 
stituting the site of University College were purchased. M The 
building was begun and soon became an object of attention in 
the neighborhood. At the laying of the foundation stone on 
April 30, 182 7 it was announced that the institution would 
open in October, 1828; and when this did take place be- 
tween seven and eight hundred students had matriculated. '' 

In the meantime a certain group of persons who entertained 
scruples against dissociating such an institution from the Na- 
tional Church advertised a new school, King's College. The 
fundamental principle was, it was stated, 

"That every system of general education for the youth of a 
Christian community ought to comprise instruction in the 
Christian religion, as an indispensable part, without which the 
acquisition of other branches of knowledge will be conducive 
neither to the happiness of the individual nor to the welfare of 
the state". 02 

The admission of resident pupils and the teaching of reli- 
gion appear to be the only novel features of the plan. King's 
College was founded and incorporated August 14, 1829 and 
was opened October 8, 1831. 



09 Ed/in. Rev., 48:235. 

60 Bncyiolopaiediia Brii'tanruica, litih edition', article on Jjondon Univer- 
sity by James Basis MuHliniger. 
61 Edin. Rev., 48:235. 
M Ibid., 48: 235. 



78 The Work of Lord Brougham 

The new phase of the movement was so far successful that 
in 1836 it was deemed expedient to dissociate the University 
of London from University College as a teaching body, and 
to limit its action simply to the institution of examinations and 
the conferring of degrees, the college itself receiving its first 
charter and being thenceforth designated as University Col- 
lege, London. The rival institution was also incorporated 
with the University and was thenceforth known as King's Col- 
lege, London. M Once more Brougham's initiative had called 
forth action on the part of the Church, and by rivalry a stimu- 
lus was given to the movement. 

Earl Grey in writing to Brougham on October 7, 1828 

•J «* 

said: 

"It must afford the truest satisfaction to everybody who 
thinks, as I do, of the public benefit likely to arise from such 
an institution. But to you it must be peculiarly gratifying, for 
you have been the creator of the establishment and your name 
will be forever united with the improvements which may 
spring not only from this, but from the rival college, which 
never would have existed but for the success of your exer- 
tions." 



w Britannica article on London University. 
M Broiugihaim's Autobiography, Vol. II. p. 378. 



for Education in England 79 

CHAPTER V 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS 
A. Grant of 1833. 

The year 1830 marked a great change in the political ca- 
reer of Henry Brougham. The ten years following his bril- 
liant defense of Queen Caroline had been a decade of im- 
mense activity. We are given a picture of his busy life at this 
time. 

"He is in the Court of King's Beach all day in active dis- 
charge of the most laborious profession in the world, under 
which the stoutest nerves and firmest constitutions are found 
to fail, and afterwards in the House of Commons all night, a 

first-rate debater on every subject proposed; he is in 

the Court of Exchequer often — in the House of Lords as often 
— before the Privy Council whenever it meets — a constant at- 
tendant at public meetings — in society frequently and yet 
finds time for the cultivation of literature and science, for gen- 
eral and most excursive reading and frequent composition." 

His own practice as a barrister had increased and he had 
become a potent force among the Whigs. On account of his 
popularity he was returned to Parliament for York in the gen- 
eral election of the summer of 1830. This he took as a great 
personal tribute. When in November the Whig triumph in 
the House of Commons was followed by the organization of 
a new Whig ministry he could not be overlooked, and after 
much deliberation he was given the great seal. He was then 
raised to the peerage under the ostentatious patent of Lord 
Brougham and Vaux. 

In the House of Commons he had been a factor to be reck- 
oned with and it was only with reluctance that he gave up his 
seat in that body. He had desired to enter the cabinet as Mas- 
ter of the Rolls so that he need not leave the lower house. 

1 Edinburgh Riefvaerw, 42: 241. 



80 The Work of Lord Brougham 

Now in the House of Lords he had won personal prestige but 
his actual power was much lessened. ' 

In the House of Commons his place in the advocacy of edu- 
cation was taken by others, Mr. Roebuck, Mr. Wise and Lord 
John Russell. They were ready to espouse the cause of 
which, fourteen years before, he was the sole conspicuous ad- 
vocate. The spread of laborers' and mechanics' institutes, 
reading rooms, libraries, penny magazines, cheap encyclo- 
paedias, educational societies and lectures on Natural Philos- 
ophy and Political Economy had helped to form a sound pub- 
lic opinion as to the necessity and duty of popular education. s 
Elementary instruction was beginning to be recognized by the 
poor man himself as something absolutely necessary in gain- 
ing his ends. 

After the agitation for the Reform Bill had subsided, the 
people began to urge remedial legislation on all kinds of sub- 
jects. The adoption of a uniform system of education for the 
poorer classes of the realm was urged upon the House of 
Commons by petition. The Unitarian Christian Congregation 
of Greengate, Salford, 4 and the Inhabitants of Liverpool ' in 
February 1833 prayed the House to adopt measures for pro- 
moting and improving the national education. The inhabit- 
ants of Epping and Harlow'' were convinced "by long exper- 
ience" that the desirable and necessary object of general edu- 
cation could not be obtained by the zeal and benevolence of 
societies and individuals alone, however laudably and actively 
exerted, and asked the House to consider a plan for the in- 
struction of the poorer classes of society. In May a resolution 
of Lord Kerry was passed for an address to the King that he 
direct an investigation of the state of education in each town, 



3 dictionary of National Biography, article on Lord Brougham. 
8 Hole, p. 11. 

4 Journal of H. of C, Vol. 88, p. 45. 
"(FbM., Vol. 88, p. 57. 

fl Ibid., Vol. 88, p. 309. 



for Education in England 8 1 

parish, chapelry or extra parochial place, stating the amount 
of the population in each place and specifying — 

"1. Whether the said Schools are Infant, Daily, or Sunday 
Schools; 

2. whether they are confined, either nominally or vir- 
tually, to the use of Children of the Established Church, or of 
any other Religious Denomination; 

3. whether they are endowed or unendowed; 

4. by what Funds they are supported; if unendowed, 
whether by payments from the Scholars or otherwise; 

5. the Numbers and Sexes of the Scholars in each 
School; 

6. the Age at which the Children generally enter, and at 
which they generally quit School; 

7. the Salaries and other Emoluments allowed to the 
Masters or Mistresses in each School; and shall also dis- 
tinguish, 

8. those Schools which have been established or revived 
since 1818; and, 

9. those Schools to which a lending Library is attached." 

On July 30 Mr. Roebuck moved that the House acknowl- 
edge as a principle of government that the education of the 
people was a matter of national concern and that early in the 
next session, they proceed to devise a means for the universal 
and national education of the whole people. 8 He advocated 
compulsion to the extent of making it an offense to keep a 
child away from school between six and twelve years of age. 
Lord Althorp objected to binding the Government by the 
resolution but intimated that the Government was not passive. 
So the motion had to be withdrawn. 

Meanwhile to the country at large it appeared that 
Brougham as Lord Chancellor, too much absorbed in his own 
advancement, had forsaken their cause. Hume in the House 



'Ibid., Vol. 88, p. 435. 
'Hansard, 3 3., XX, c. 170. 



82 The Work of Lord Brougham 

of Commons on April 25, 1833 said that he in common with 
the whole country felt deeply grieved that His Majesty's min- 
isters had not brought before the House, as leading ques- 
tions, the subjects of education and the poor laws. He was 
very sorry that the Lord Chancellor — all powerful as he was 
in the cabinet — had so grievously disappointed the ardent 
expectations of the whole nation on this most important sub- 
ject, which he felt inevitably had to be brought under consid- 
eration, whether the present ministers liked it or not. 

But Brougham was not indifferent. The report of the 
committee of 1818 stood as something basic in its principles. 
It was only the means of applying those principles that had 
been defeated in 1820. Until he came into office in 1830 he 
had not the power of giving effect to this report. M What he 
had failed to accomplish by legislation he now set in motion 
through personal power. In the cabinet of Earl Grey there 
were several men who had taken more than a passing interest 
in the cause of education. Lord John Russell, the Marquis of 
Lansdowne, Lord Althorp, and Earl Grey himself had been 
old friends of the movement. And so, Brougham states, as 
soon as the agitation occasioned by the Reform Bill had sub- 
sided, "I deemed it my duty to call the attention of my col- 
leagues to the Report of the Education Committee". " He 
laid the matter before Lords Grey and Althorp of the Treas- 
ury and obtained their concurrence for a plan of granting 
money, in accordance with the recommendation of the Com- 
mittee of 1818. It had been stated that if the original cost of 
the undertaking, occasioned chiefly by the erection and pur- 
chase of the schoolhouse, were supplied, private subscriptions 
would meet the yearly expenses of the schools. Consequently 
the supply report of August 17, 1833 contained the follow- 
ing: 



.IMd., 3 S., XVII, c. 594. 
IMd., 3 IS., CXXIX, c 973. 
'Ibid., 3 8., CLV, c. 252. 



for Education in England 83 



"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, That 
a sum, not exceeding Twenty thousand pounds, be granted to 
His Majesty, to be issued in aid of Private Subscriptions for 
the erection of School Houses, for the Education of the Chil- 
dren of the Poorer Classes in Great Britain to the 3 1 st day of 
March 1834; and that the said sum be issued and paid with- 
out any fee or other deduction whatsoever." 

The grant was voted by the House of Commons and the 
application of the sum was entrusted to the Treasury. This 
department adopted one of the modes of distribution sug- 
gested by the Committee of 1818, namely through the Brit- 
ish and Foreign and the National Societies. Minutes of the 
Treasury, approved by Orders in Council, outlined the prin- 
ciples to be followed. 13 They were: 

"1. The money was to be spent on new school-houses 
only, which were not to include dwellings for teachers or at- 
tendants. 

2. At least half of the total cost for the building was to be 
raised by private subscriptions. This money was to be re- 
ceived, expended, and accounted for before the receipt of 
any public money. 

3. All appeals for grants were to be sent through the Na- 
tional Schools Society or the British and Foreign Schools So- 
ciety. These were to report to, and satisfy, the Treasury 
Board as to the need for a grant, and as to the reasonable ex- 
pectation of the permanent support of the school to be built. 

4. The managers of schools built by the aid of such 
grants were to be bound to submit their accounts to audit, and 
make periodical reports on the state of the school and the 
number of children educated therein. 

5. In giving grants, preference would be shown to large 
towns and cities; and due inquiry would be made as to the 
charitable funds available for public education already ex- 
isting, in judging of the needs of the place." 14 



12 Journal of H. <of C, Vol. 88, p. 692. 
33 Hansard, 3 S., XXVIII, c. 71. 
"Hoilman, p. 60. 



84 The Work of Lord Brougham 

But a small grant of money was a far cry from a national 
system of education. The Scotch system was held up in con- 
trast and many persons demanded of Brougham a reason for 
his hesitation in bringing in a bill. On April 16, 1834, in 
moving for a return of the charities in a list of counties, he 
took occasion to explain his attitude. " The parish school 
system of Scotland was not equally applicable to England. 
If Parliament required a school in every parish, voluntary 
contributions would end. In 1820 they were deprived, on ac- 
count of the jealousy of the sects, of what was in his belief a 
most unexceptionably framed system of parochial education. 
Nevertheless, out of the evil had come good, for the animos- 
ity or rivalry of conflicting sects had given rise to new exer- 
tions for the furtherance of popular instruction. When in 1828 
the Test and Corporation Acts had been removed he had 
thought it expedient to ascertain by private inquiries whether 
there had been an increase or decrease of education during 
those ten years. Accordingly, he had addressed a circular 
to the clergymen of seven hundred parishes, indiscriminately 
from town and country, requesting the necessary informa- 
tion. About five hundred replies were received showing 
that the number of unendowed schools in those parishes had 
doubled and the number of scholars had increased in the 
proportion of twenty one to ten. The number of children in 
endowed schools had fallen off from 166,000 to 150,000." 
The friends of parish schools had in periodical publications 
charged him with exaggeration but the report of Lord Kerry's 
Commission which had been appointed the preceding year 
had shown by a comparative view in two districts, Bedford 
and Manchester, from 1818-1833, that his opinion was con- 
firmed. Did not this show that it might be very imprudent 
to run the risk of doing away with the system of voluntary 



"Hansard, 3 S., XXII, c. 843. 
18 Ibid., 3 S. ( XXVII, c. 1293. 



for Education in England 85 

contribution by imposing a school rate? A modified parish 
system was proposed in 1818 because it was feared that vol- 
untary contributions might prove occasional and temporary, 
but now statistics removed such an apprehension. If there 
was a backwardness among the English about sending their 
children to schools, the voluntary system offered a far greater 
chance of removing it, for those who subscribed voluntarily 
naturally took an interest in the school and tried to induce the 
poor to send their children. In Prussia education was forced 
under the rigor of military punishment; but he was against a 
compulsory system in any sense, either by forcing parents to 
send their children to school under certain penalties or by de- 
priving them of certain privileges if they refused to let them 
attend. A knowledge of the benefits that were to be derived 
from education ought to be the great incitement to seek it and 
every effort ought to be made to disseminate that leading 
principle. Although, in his mind, there was a very great risk 
in adopting a compulsory system, still it appeared to him that 
there was a much greater risk in doing nothing at all, and it 
was a gross mistake to suppose because that particular door 
was not open, that, therefore, no door was open by which 
provision could be made to remove the want of education. 
He approved the course recommended in 1818 and begun in 
1833 of giving a sum of money to encourage those to proceed 
who were willing to advance the money for the formation of 
schools by voluntary subscriptions. This had been started on 
a small scale and the present year he had induced the House 
of Commons to make a further grant of the same amount. The 
effect had been that these sums by reason of their mode of ap- 
plication had called forth an equal sum of voluntary contribu- 
tions. In one year there were new schools for 30,000 children. 

In the system of education offered, however, there was a de- 
ficiency. The discussions which arose out of the education 
committees of 1816, 1817, and 1818 had occasioned new ef- 
forts for schools of a more useful type, having a larger pro- 



86 The Work of Lord Brougham 

portion of teachers and dispensing in a great measure with 
the monitorial system. " The difficulty lay in the lack of 
cheap seminaries for school masters. Brougham hoped that 
the attention of Parliament would be speedily called to this 
and that an additional £20,000 would be granted for the es- 
tablishment of normal schools. 

He also pointed out that the funds applicable to education, 
if bequests would be fairly managed, would be £1,500,000 an- 
nually and would be more than sufficient to supply all the ex- 
penses of a national system. He thought not everyone who 
had founded a school or hospital ought to be called charitable. 
There were no greater nuisances than some of the institutions 
called charities and if those at the head of some of them did 
not mend their ways he would call on Parliament to look on 
those establishments as placed peculiarly under their care and 
to see that those estates were more carefully executed. 

But taken as a whole the best course to be pursued, instead 
of introducing any bill, was to try a little more experience on 
the subject. "Crude, rank, precipitate reforms," he said, "are 
worse and worse for the cause of reform than standing rock 
still." 1S 

B. Taxes on Knowledge. 

At this time Brougham was taking part in the agitation of 
a subject which had an indirect bearing on the extension of 
education, namely, the repeal of what were popularly called 
"Taxes on Knowledge". These dated back, as has been stated 
before, to the tenth year of the reign of Queen Anne and con- 
sisted of an excise tax on paper; a stamp duty on newspapers, 
pamphlets and books; and a tax on advertisements." Since 
1 803 the tax on paper had been 3d. per pound. M By an Act 



17 Ibid., 3 S., CXXXV, c. 550. 

18 Liverpool Speeches, p. 12. 

19 Stattutes ait Large, 10 Amns, cap. 19. 
'"Ibid., 43 Geo. Ill, c. 69. 



for Education in England 87 



of 1815 the stamp duty on newspapers had been made 4d. 
for every sheet or smaller piece whereof they consisted; on all 
pamphlets and numbers of books published in parts, exceeding 
one whole sheet, 3s. for each sheet; on almanacs, Is. 3d.; and 
on advertisements, 3s. 6d. 

The years of disturbance after the war had witnessed the 
publication of low priced pamphlets of less than a sheet (thus 
avoiding the tax), which contained observations on public 
events and which the Tories felt were exciting hatred and con- 
tempt for the Government and the constitution. In order to 
restrain these, one of the Six Acts of 181 9" extended the 
newspaper stamp tax to all small pamphlets containing re- 
marks on any matter in Church or State, published at inter- 
vals not exceeding twenty six days, and sold at less than 6d. ; 
and no quantity less than 21x17 inches was to be a sheet. 2 * 

From the time this act was passed Francis Place had fought 
against the taxes, but as long as the Tories were in power 
there was little hope of their repeal. With the advent of the 
Whig ministry the question was pressed more vigorously. 
Place wrote articles on the subject for any paper that would 
publish them. In the House of Commons Mr. Bulwer repeat- 
edly made motions for the repeal; and many petitions were 
presented from all parts of the country. Each time the ques- 
tion was brought forward the Chancellor of the Exchequer de- 
clared himself in favor of the principle of the repeal but 
feared its effect upon the revenue. "' 

In June 1 834, Brougham was called before a committee of 
the House of Commons to give evidence on the Libel Law 
and declared himself in favor of the total repeal of the tax on 



■ Ibid., 55 Geo. Ill, c. 185. 

- IbM., 60 Geo. Ill, c. 9. 
At this time Brougham entered protest againsit the aot, liis ob- 
jection being ohieifly directed to the principle of resorting to stamp 
dultiies not as a' means of revenue but as a means Of prohibiting pub- 
lication. Hansa.d, XLI, c. 1300. 

"Wallas, Life of Francis Place, p. 336-7. 



88 The Work of Lord Brougham 

newspapers. " He considered this tax to have brought about 
two evil effects. In the first place, it was the cause of the 
worst libelous publications, both public and private. Security 
against abuse lay in the character of those who managed the 
newspapers. But laws made to restrain the press had a 
tendency to lessen this security, for whatever made the trade 
of a newspaper precarious tended to lessen the respect 
of those who resorted to contraband dealing. The worst 
libels appeared in the unstamped newspapers, which were 
sold in great numbers in violation of the law. While the 
fair dealer had to charge 6d. on account of the tax, the unfair 
sold his paper at 2d. The evil of libel could, therefore, be 
met by removing the impediment to the fair dealer; the smug- 
gler could be destroyed by removing the duties. 

The other bad effect of the tax was its obstruction to the 
progress of political knowledge and the diffusion of general 
information. As the publisher sold his paper to the newsman 
for 2d. and the tax was 4d., the necessity of political life and 
political intelligence was taxed 200%. To the poor man this 
price was a prohibitive one. It was the duty of a government 
to make all its acts generally and speedily known to the pub- 
lic; it was an injustice to punish men for what they could not 
know to be crimes. What channels were so easy as the pub- 
lic prints? But the Government said that the newspapers 
were only to be read by persons in easy circumstances. It was 
the duty of all free subjects to consider matters of a public 
nature, the acts of the Government, the conduct of the public 
servants, the occurrences of the time, and form their opinions 
upon them, but the price of papers deprived them of this in- 
telligence. 

Moreover, Brougham said those who had wished to provide 
for the people cheap, innocent and useful publications found 
that to a certain point they could go, but beyond that it was 

25 Political Ecomoimy Pamphlelts, Vol. 205. 



for Education in England 89 

impossible for them to move. Where men were gregarious 
cheap publications sold readily but the peasantry he had 
nearly given over in despair. Books, however cheap, were re- 
pulsive to ignorant men but the newspaper, which furnished 
the best vehicle for useful information, would find its way into 
the farm house. "But it was prevented in many cases from 
entering, because the Chancellor of the Exchequer kept his 
hand on the latch." 

This evidence Place reprinted in pamphlet form and had 
10,000 copies circulated. He said in a letter to Hume: 

"Scarcely any man in Parliament besides Lord Brougham 
appears to know the actual value of the repeal. In a moral 
point of view it is what Archimedes wanted to have in a phys- 
ical point of view, a place to stand upon, a fulcrum to move 
the world." 26 

The next year in presenting a petition signed by many in- 
habitants of London Brougham took occasion to reiterate his 
opinions in the House of Lords. : ' He presided at one of the 
three big public meetings on the subject in the metropolis" 8 and 
gave his active support to the movement until legislation re- 
sulted. In 1836, the stamp duty was reduced to Id." 9 
C. Resolutions of 1835. 

Meanwhile changes in the political arena were taking place 
which were to interfere with the full efficacy of Brougham's 
powers. Although Grey had retired in June, 1834, Brougham 
had retained the chancellorship in the first Melbourne min- 



26 Wallas, Life of Enamels Place, in. p. 337, LeUter to Hume, May 2, 
1835. 

27 Hansaird, 3 S., XXVII, c. 85. 

28 Companion to the Newspaper, 3: 452. 

-'■' Statutes at Large, 6 & 7 Wm. IV, cap. 76. 

The stamp duty was repealed in 1S55 (18 & 19 Vict., cap. 27). Tine 
tax on advertisements was reduced in 1833 to 1 s. 6 d. (3 & 4 Wm. 
IV cap. 23), and was repealed in 1853 (16 & 17 Viot., cap. 63); that 
on pamphlete was repealed in 1833 (3 & 4 Wm. IV, cap. 231); that on 
almanacs was repealed im 1834 (3 & 4 Wm. IV, cap. 57). 



90 The Work of Lord Brougham 

istry from July to November. He was one of the most active 
Whigs in helping to overthrow the Peel ministry which fol- 
lowed, but when in April, 1835 Melbourne was called upon to 
form a new cabinet, and almost all the old ministers were re- 
called, Brougham was ignored by his colleagues. This to him 
was a sore disappointment. For a time the seal was put in 
commission, perhaps to ease his feelings, but when Lord Cot- 
tenham was appointed early in 1836 all hopes were gone. 80 
To one who was vain and who from early youth aspired to 
personal prestige, such an omission was a great slight. From 
that time his influence on political party and political move- 
ment was ended. Sir Robert Peel said that Brougham was 
the most powerful man he had ever known in the House of 
Commons; but that no one had ever fallen so fast and so 
far. 31 

In May, 1835 Brougham, in announcing that he was going 
to submit certain resolutions on the subject of education to the 
House of Lords, was apprehensive that some might think more 
of the advocate than of the question, more of his politics than 
of its merits. Unless he could convince their Lordships, he 
said, that the subject was worthy of their attention he might 
be doing mischief to the cause, the progress of which it had 
been the great object of his life to advance. He realized that 
whoever undertook to bring forward a subject like education 
had a difficult task. 

"He makes himself the advocate of measures which ought 
to be kept free from all admixture of party feeling — apart 
from all the disturbing forces of animosity — measures in which 
all parties have the same stake, so none ought to interfere with 
any other view, but to consider their merits upon the most en- 
larged principles, and with the most inflexible resolution to 
consult only the true interests of the country." 



30 Dictionary of National Biography, article cm Dcird Brougham. 

31 Life of Gladstone by John Morley, Viol. I, p. 133. 

32 Banisair/d, 3 S., XXVII, c. 1293. 



for Education in England 9 1 

Mindful of the religious animosity which had been aroused 
by the bill of 1820, Brougham was reluctant to proceed by a 
general bill. Statistics had shown that the voluntary system 
had vindicated itself and until the efforts of individuals should 
be found insufficient and the institutions which they had es- 
tablished should be found going into decay no general inter- 
ference of Parliament was necessary. And so he preferred to 
proceed by fourteen resolutions 83 which provided that the 
parliamentary grants should go to improve the instruction 
given and the state of the schools; and in presenting them he 
gave a detailed explanation. In the first place schools were 
too few. One ninth of the population were children between 
seven and twelve, but only one twelfth were educated and 
these were unequally distributed in all ranks. Nearly one half 
of the children of the poor were still destitute of all means of 
instruction. The remedy suggested was a continuation of the 
plan of giving money for the school house in proportion to 
private subscription. The master's salary should not be pro- 
vided for because the poor should be encouraged to spare 
something for quarter-pence. 

Next, education was confined to children of an age too ad- 
vanced. He considered the establishment of infant schools 
one of the most important improvements in the civil polity of 
the country. The school which he had helped to establish in 
Westminster was still flourishing, although it was eclipsed by 
others to which it gave rise, especially Wilderspin's in Spital- 
fields and Wilson's at Walthanston. He and his friends had 
been called visionaries, speculatists, enthusiasts, theorists. 

"We walked but walked onward, among clouds of such 
phrases, thickly buzzing about from every corner; a little 
noisy, less troublesome, but offering no kind of resistance to 
our progress. If my opponents smiled at me, I smiled at them, 

33 Ibid., 3 S., XXVII, c. 1331-33. 



92 The Work of Lord Brougham 



so that quarrel we had none; and at length they who laughed, 
were first silenced, then convinced, and are now active coad- 
jutors. And now I am again exposing myself to a repetition 
of the ridicule, when I state that I consider that the establish- 
ment of Infant Schools in large towns, where crime is rife, 
where the people are closely crowded and ignorant, and vi- 
cious as well as ignorant — that planting those schools in such 
haunts of men as London, Westminster, Southwark, Man- 
chester, Birmingham and Sheffield, would be the most 
simple and most efficacious preventive of crimes." 

Punishment was useless as a deterrent; prevention was ef- 
fectual. Infant schools were better than Newgate schools. 

The real difficulty of providing the schools would be incon- 
siderable, "for all those persons who have themselves been 
thrown into evil communication by the want of knowledge and 
by early bad habits have invariably, to their praise be it 
spoken, looked favourably upon infant tuition". A calcula- 
tion as to the cost he had through accident. A legacy of be- 
tween £7000 and £8000 had been left him on supposition 
that he held certain opinions which he did not entertain, so he 
had decided to give it to infant schools. Finding he had to 
undergo a Chancery suit to get it he renounced it; but in- 
quiries had been set on foot, in consequence of his conceived 
project, and for £,000 he found he could establish schools 
which would train that portion of a population of 1 30,000 
which he supposed to furnish the criminals. If Parliament 
would give £30,000 for two years "we should be able to pro- 
vide for the training of the whole of London on both sides of 
the river". One sixtieth of the population needed such schools 
and the supply was for only one one hundred and sixtieth. ** 

Next he dealt with the kind of education given in the 
schools. B It was exceedingly scanty and imperfect. "You 
could hardly say more in its praise than that it is better than 



34 'YbM„ 3 S., <c. 1293. 

K Ibid., 3 iS., XXVII, c. 1319. 



for Education in England 93 

nothing." England was far behind other countries. He had 
visited France the year before and found that normal schools 
were everywhere being established by the Government on the 
model originated by Fellenberg. In England only two such 
institutions existed, one having been established by each of the 
two big societies. He had frequently visited the school of the 
British and Foreign Society at the Borough Road. 

"These seminaries for training masters are an invaluable 
gift to mankind and lead to the indefinite improvement of 
education. It is this which above everything else we ought to 

labour to introduce into our system; no possible harm 

can result from the interposition of the Legislature in this de- 
partment." 

He estimated that £20,000 for five or six years with the in- 
dividual efforts which would be called forth would be suffi- 
cient. If charitable foundations were properly utilized there 
would be an ample amount of funds applicable. 

He proposed that a board be formed — 

"To superintend the due and just application of the funds 
from time to time voted by Parliament for the promotion of 
Education, to establish proper Seminaries for training teachers, 
to encourage the trustees of Charities connected with Educa- 
tion in using beneficially the powers now possessed by them, 
to watch over the abuses of trust committed by such trustees, 
and to control the exercise of such new powers as Parliament 
may grant them". 3 " 

It was objected that he had neglected religious instruction 
in the resolutions, to which he replied that he was not unaware 
of the difficulties which surrounded this question; but he 
thought he would at a future time be enabled to lay such a 
plan before their Lordships. 

36 IibdJd., 3 S., XXVII, c. 1332. 



94 The Work of Lord Brougham 

The debate on the resolutions was postponed until June 30. 
Then Melbourne objected to proceeding in that form with a 
principle of such great importance and suggested a bill in- 
stead. 8 ' He also stated that money had already been voted 
for a model school and that the Treasury was considering its 
establishment. Of this Brougham had not known; but he now 
objected to the smallness of the sum of £10,000 for that pur- 
pose. He also urged, since the Corporation Act was soon to 
be passed, that when they were turning over a new leaf, when 
they were making a new distribution of trust power, when they 
were taking the management of property out of the hands of 
one body and giving it to another, now was the time to see 
whether they could not establish an effectual barrier to the 
abuse of trusts. 

The resolutions were finally withdrawn. Brougham had 
accomplished his view; they had been printed and discussed, 
and the subject was no longer new to anyone. Four days 
later he presented a bill, but it did not reach a second reading 
before the end of the session. 
D. Education Bills of 1837 and 1838. 

The wrong which Brougham believed he had sustained at 
(the hands of the Whigs was something not easily forgotten. 
Depression could not be fought away and the year 1836 wit- 
nessed no speech from him in Parliament. But he was back 
in London in January, 1837, ready to take up matters where 
he had left them. He had divided his bill for education into 
two parts. 3S The first created a new department in the State, 
the Department of Public Instruction. Three paid commis- 
sioners, holding their places for life and removable only by 
address by both Houses of Parliament, with three ministers 
of the Crown and the speaker of the House of Commons were 
'to form the board. The department it was proposed to in- 



87 Ifoiid., 3 S., XXViIII, c. 71. 

38 Ibid., 3 S., XXXVIII, c. 1618. 



for Education in England 95 

vest with such powers as would enable it to extend education 
throughout the country, to plant schools, to bestow properly 
those funds which might be afforded from time to time by 
Parliament and to superintend the distribution of such other 
funds as might be raised by local taxation for this purpose. 
The second branch of the bill related to the jurisdiction which 
was to be confided to the same board over the charity funds 
already in existence. 

The bill was presented and read the first time on the first 
night of the session and an abstract of the provisions was made 
so that no one would have the excuse of not reading the bill. 
Objection was made, however, that it was too early in the 
session so the second reading was postponed. The bill was 
unfortunate at all times, for even in the middle of the session 
when there was literally nothing to do, it could not be pro- 
ceeded with. Then at the end of the session the accession of 
a new sovereign made business like that of education out of 
the question. Since it was impossible that the bill should re- 
ceive due consideration in the House of Commons, Brougham 
decided that nothing would be gained by urging it. He ex- 
pressed satisfaction that it had been printed and that the more 
his plan was considered the more acceptance it had found. S9 

The scheme proposed had drawn the attention of the peo- 
ple outside Parliament. A petition, signed by 1 1,000 to 
12,000 persons of Sheffield, was drawn up at a meeting pre- 
sided over by the "Master Cutler" asking for the adoption of 
such a system of education as would elevate the moral char- 
acter of the people. Another, presented by the Bishop of 
London, and signed by 5048 persons of the town of Chelten- 
ham, stated that it was viewed with alarm that an attempt was 
being made to form a system of education which would be 
compulsory and which was to be of a totally secular char- 
acter. *° 

39 Ibad., 3 S., XXXIX, c. 432. 

40 Ibdd., 3 S., XXXIX, c. 208-11. 



96 The Work of Lord Brougham 

The matter of religion had been carefully avoided by 
Brougham. Mindful of his former experience in 1820, he was 
of the opinion that there ought to be the most careful rejection 
and exclusion of any principle that was calculated to give 
either to the Established Church or to any one sect any pref- 
erence, dominance, or authority, exclusively paramount, over 
the education of the people of the kingdom. 

On December 1, 1837 he gave notice that he would soon 
present two separate bills, one on education generally and one 
on charities, based on the principles he had been advocating 
for three years. " He had divided the subject for there were 
many persons against a legislative measure relating to the ad- 
ministration of charities who experienced no difficulty with re- 
respect to duties of an education board. He was not going 
to wait until the first reading of the bills to explain their na- 
ture, for if he waited until they were printed it would be diffi- 
cult to remove objections that might be formed in the Lords' 
minds. 

These bills were founded on two general principles. First, 
he thought that there ought to be, in no time, in no country, 
whatever might be the constitution of the country and the 
state of society, any positive and direct compulsion as to the 
education of the people. 

"It was a perilous matter to usurp the parental office by 
public authority and prescribe by a command of the State, 
fortified perhaps by the penalties attached to a civil offence, 
the line of parental management which the father and mother 
should pursue in taking care of the offspring which Providence 
and nature had committed to their care." 

Also he thought that the compulsory principle was a viola- 
tion of individual liberty — 

41 Ibid., 3 S., XXXIX, c. 432. 



for Education in England 97 



"That it was a tyranny, introduced no doubt, and he ad- 
mitted it, for a laudable purpose, but nevertheless declaring, 
that in order to educate people they would enslave them, 
that in order to diffuse instruction amongst them they Would; 
contract their liberty and introduce a system which would be 
intolerable to the citizens of a free state". 

The next general principle was that it should not be in the 
power of the Government to regulate the details of education, 
i. e. that its interference should be excluded beyond what was 
absolutely necessary. It appeared to him nothing more nor 
less than tyranny for any Government to have the power of 
deciding the number of schools to be established, the kind of 
instruction to be afforded in them, the mode of teaching to be 
adopted, and the description of books to be read. He would 
have no rules laid down either by law, or by boards, or by the 
joint operation of law and boards together; neither would he 
have the executive or the legislature to prescribe a course of 
instruction, and teach the people according to its own model. 
He held it to be a right that no Government should appoint 
instructors — that no Government ought to be intrusted with 
the power of naming those from whom the public at large 
were to receive the benefit of secular instruction. One should 
hold out incentive and encouragement and give facilities of 
every sort to enable the parent to discharge the duty. Ac- 
cordingly, first of all, these inducements should consist in mak- 
ing education cheap, good, and easily acquired. 

But no measure could be based merely on general prin- 
ciples. It must have particular reference to the state of edu- 
cation in England. Here there were obstacles to a uniform 
measure: 1. A vast number of schools were in existence. 
There were 50,000, of which 39,000 or 40,000 were unen- 
dowed and 10,000 endowed. Not all the children at the un- 
endowed schools should be considered charity children. 
Twice as many paid as not. He agreed with those who said 
a system supported by mere charity was pregnant with evil. 



98 The Work of Lord Brougham 

No one had gone further than he in deprecating the extension 
of more than was absolutely necessary of that charitable sys- 
tem. 2. The Scotch system would not work in England. 

"Every system of education must be so framed as to be 

capable of expansion and contraction, and easily susceptible of 
such variations and modifications as might suit the different 
parts of the country, and meet the views, the wants, and the al- 
tering state of the various towns and even villages which were 
found to exist in England." 3. There were many funds by en- 
dowment which were sufficient in one place and lacking in 
others. 4. The state of the country in respect to the relig- 
ious feelings of the people was peculiar. 

Brougham then stated that a public department to be 
called an Education Board was necessary. The present bill 
required that it be composed of two ministers of the Crown 
and three life members as against three ministers, the speaker 
of the House of Commons and three paid commissioners of 
the preceding bill. It was necessary to have some members of 
the Government for such matters as grants and the adminis- 
tration of grants required the concurrence of ministers who 
would be responsible. But the members were to have no 
power with respect to appointment of schoolmasters. They 
were to distribute the grants made from time to time by Par- 
liament and the charity funds, according to the present law or 
future modifications. They were to name inspectors and have 
power to provide schools with the concurrence of the local 
authority. 

This was the great principle of the bill, that the people 
among whom education was to be extended or improved 
should be a substantial check against the central authority. 
The members of the local body alone were to originate the 
plan of the rate. Unless they called for the rate or for the 
power of rating themselves there was no authority to impose 
any rate whatever upon them. On the other hand, the local 
body could not rate themselves without the authority of the 



for Education in England 99 

central board, so that the joint consent of the local and the 
central power served as a protection of the constituents 
against their representatives. If the local body made condi- 
tions unacceptable to the central they might subscribe accord- 
ing to the voluntary principle out of their own money but they 
could have no portion of a grant from Parliament. The prin- 
ciple of distribution adopted by the Treasury in 1833 was to 
be altered. The first grant had been equally divided between 
the two societies but as the principle of the Government was 
to make grants where one half of the sum was raised by local 
efforts, the British and Foreign Society had exhausted its 
funds the first year and the National Society, by reason of its 
superior local resources, soon absorbed two thirds and then 
three fourths of the grant. 

The country was divided into ( 1 ) municipal corporations 
whose local affairs were committed to town councils and (2) 
those districts where people had no councils nor any body in 
whom the functions exercised in corporate towns were vested. 
If a parish or township not having municipal institutions 
chose, it could obtain for itself a body. Any given number 
of inhabitants, five or six for instance, could make requisition 
to the parish officer for a meeting at which a school committee 
should be appointed. The forming of the constituency who 
were to choose the school committee was a new proposition. 
The qualification was appropriately an educational one. 
Brougham had always entertained a strong and decided opin- 
ion in favor of this kind of indirect encouragement of educa- 
tion. All persons who were members for a certain time of a 
mechanics' institute, an association for education, or a literary 
society, and all persons educated at a university, Inns of 
Court, Inns of Chancery, public schools or any schools what- 
ever, were to be enrolled. All those who were classified in 
any way were, if residents for twelve months, to enjoy the 
franchise. The school committee which this body would 



1 00 The Work of Lord Brougham 

elect was to be composed of rate payers and was to have 
power to levy the school rate. 

Brougham felt that every plan of national education 
should embrace religious instruction. The authorized version 
of the Scriptures was to be read in all the schools founded, 
extended or improved under the bill, but the children of Jews 
and Roman Catholics were not required to be present during 
the reading unless the parents desired it. The same exemption 
was also to be made when the catechism and Thirty Nine Ar- 
ticles were expounded. 

Brougham was convinced that he had at last worked out a 
plan which reconciled many inconsistencies and established 
forms which amounted on the whole to one great universal 
system of education, as far as any system could be applied to 
a country, the diversity of the local circumstances of which 
was as great and as various as in England. He wished 
throughout his measure strictly to adhere to the wise and be- 
nevolent maxim — "in essentialibus, unitas; in non-essentiali- 
bus, libertas; et in omnibus, caritas ". " 

The bill when presented had the support of Lord Mel- 
bourne's Government 43 but Brougham soon found he had to 
meet not the hostility of Dissenters this time but the prejudices 
of the Established Church. He had a vast amount of corre- 
spondence on the subject and met many deputations, some of 
them consisting of fifty or sixty individuals, of all sects and 
belonging to various classes of the community. 41 From the 
opinions expressed he found there was a general agreement as 
to the great principle of the measure but considerable disagree- 
ment as to religious instruction. 

In the House of Lords the Archbishop of Canterbury was an 
opponent. * The Church of England (ecclesiastical and lay) 



42 Ibtid., 3 S., XLIV, c. 1174. 

43 Ibid., 3 S., CXXXIII, c. 1. 

44 Ibid., 3 S., XLIV, c. 1174. 
"ilbid., 3 S., CXXXIII, o. 1. 



for Education in England 1 1 

contended it could not unite in any plan of education not im- 
mediately under the superintendence of the parochial minis- 
ters, which did not make the catechism of the Church of Eng- 
land a necessary part of the instruction and of which the 
schoolmaster was not himself a Churchman. With the support 
of the Government Brougham had hoped to win, but on 
August 14, 1838, one of the prelates moved that the bill be 
read a second time on "that day three months" and conse- 
quently it was defeated. Brougham then realized that it was 
impossible to carry a measure on the subject of education 
without its being, in the first place, thoroughly considered 
throughout the country. Convinced that it was absolutely and 
utterly impossible to have any plan accepted without a com- 
promise, he addressed a letter to his friend, the Duke of Bed- 
ford, 46 in concert with whom he had brought forward the bill, 
and he agreed that any proposition for a system of education 
would have to unite in its support the Church and the Dissent- 
ers. 

E. Committee of the Privy Council on Education. 

From the attitude of the House of Lords it was now evi- 
dent that no popular education measure had any chance of 
passing into law. But a bill was not a sine qua non. What 
could not be done with the aid of the upper house was carried 
out by a method for which its consent was not needed. Mem- 
bers of the Government, including Lord John Russell, had not 
been willing to take the subject out of Brougham's hands. " 
Then, too, the religious difficulty had been a great obstacle. 
It had been aggravated by the fact that the Sovereign had sub- 
scribed £100 annually to the British and Foreign Society and 
the Duke of Kent was a patron. 48 For these reasons the Gov- 
ernment had been unable either to adopt a general plan of 



" Of. Edin. Rev., 70 : 154. 

*' Early Correspondence of Loird John Russell, Vol. I, ip. 93. 

"Hansard, 3 S., XL.V, c. 273. 



1 02 The Work of Lord Brougham 

education for founding schools to which Dissenters might sub- 
scribe, or to give its adhesion to the system lately propounded 
by the Church that the Church alone should conduct the edu- 
cation of the country. 

The method of distributing the annual parliamentary grant 
of £20,000 by the Lords of the Treasury had proved very de- 
fective. For six years the money had been distributed through 
the societies and it was practically wasted. Inasmuch as one 
half of the sum had to be raised by local efforts, no provision 
was made for poor localities where it was most required. The 
officials of the Treasury had no real qualification for their 
work. No care was taken to insist on good school buildings or 
on the employment of efficient teachers and no inspection of 
schools was enforced. 

The unsatisfactory results caused the Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer on July 5, 1838 to submit to the Treasury Board the 
expediency of procuring more detailed information than be- 
fore concerning schools which had received building grants. 
He also recommended that a model school be erected. "" 

But the Government, influenced by Brougham's suggestions, 
thought it best that persons be appointed to whom the gen- 
eral management of the plan could be intrusted. In Novem- 
ber, 1838 Lord Russell had made up his mind to deal with 
this subject and had drawn up a scheme which was discussed 
in the cabinet on November 26. He thought that if the 
board appointed were composed of persons of different persua- 
sions it would not possess the confidence of the Church. It 
was better, therefore, that the Government should form the 
body — call it a board or a committee, or what they would — 
not from any one religious body or sect, or from members of 
various sects, but from the official servants of the Crown, who 



"'Edim, Rev., 70: 154. 
"Hansard, 3 S., XLVIII, c. 1313. 

51 Early Cor res pond emee elf Lord John Russell, Vol. I, p. 94. 



for Education in England 103 

would always have to depend upon the confidence of the 
House of Commons and who would have to look to them to 
decide whether or not the system which they recommended 
was such as should be supported. He proposed that the Presi- 
dent of the Privy Council and other Privy Councillors, being 
not more than five persons, should form a board, who should 
consider in what manner the grants should be distributed. "' 
He wrote to the Marquis of Lansdowne, President of the Privy 
Council, who agreed, with the other official persons named, 
that if the House of Commons should make a grant for that 
purpose, he would conduct the measures necessary to carry the 
objects proposed by the Government into effect. 

At the beginning of the session, on February 12, '"' Russell 
explained his scheme in the House of Commons: a grant of 
£30,000; a Committee of the Privy Council to superintend its 
administration; inspection of the schools; and a normal school 
for the joint education of the young of the Established Church 
and of the various sects. In this model school the Scriptures 
were to be read and Roman Catholics could use the Douay 
version. On April 1 the Queen by an Order in Council ap- 
pointed the Committee of the Privy Council to administer the 
money that would be voted by the Commons. "' 

On April 30 Russell said with respect to the disposition of 
new sums of money that a vote would be required from Par- 
liament before the Committee would feel themselves at lib- 
erty to proceed with any further arrangement than the two so- 
cieties. '' Accordingly, the Government drew up a separate 
estimate for the purposes of education so that the attention of 
the House could be invited to the merits of the scheme. 

But the plan met with abuse. Melbourne threw cold water 
on it. Lord Stanley in a long speech tried to overthrow the 



■ Hansard, 3 S., XLV, c. 273. 

"'Early Correspondence iof Lord John Russell, Vol. I, p. 86. 

54 Hansard, 3 S., XLVIII, c. 1313. 

'" Ibid., 3 S., XLVII, c. 681. 



1 04 The Work of Lord Brougham 

whole project, relying upon the Church as the only teacher of 
knowledge, religious and secular. The Church claimed the 
exclusive function of superintending the Christian doctrines 
and lessons taught in schools; of selecting the books; of visit- 
ing the classes frequently; of examining the children, especially 
in their catechism, and religious progress, and of counseling 
and aiding the masters. 5e 

The part most objected to was the permission to Roman 
Catholics to use their version of the Scriptures in the model 
school. "' Petitions in opposition poured into Parliament. 5 * 
Points were misunderstood so completely that Russell con- 
cluded that it was inadvisable to pursue the plan for the 
model school at that time and it was postponed. a 

In the report of the Committee of the Privy Council, ap- 
proved by Order in Council on June 3, it was recommended 
that the £10,000 granted by Parliament in 1835 for normal 
and model schools be given equally to the two big societies, 
instead of creating a normal school under the direction of the 
State. The remainder of the grants of 1837 and 1838 and the 
grant of 1 839 were to be applied chiefly in aid of subscriptions 
for building and in particular cases for support of schools con- 
nected with the societies. The rule hitherto adopted of mak- 
ing a grant to those places where the largest proportion was 
subscribed was not to be invariably adhered to in case appli- 
cation be made from very poor and populous districts. Also 
grants were to be made in particular cases where application 
was not made through the societies. The power of inspection 
was to be introduced and a permanent staff of inspectors to 
be appointed. 60 

On the basis of the report the grant of £30,000 was car- 



M Ibid., 3 S., XLIX, c. 324. 
:7 Ediin. Rev., 70:154. 

58 Journal off H. of C, 1S39. 

59 Hansard, 3 S., XL VII, c. 1378. 

60 Ibid., 3 S., XLVIII, c. 1273. 



for Education in England 1 05 

ried on June 2 1 , but only by a majority of two. M In the House 
of Lords the Archbishop of Canterbury had with a majority 
of the Lords succeeded in having a set of resolutions passed 
which were the subject of an address to the Queen, praying 
her to revoke the Order in Council. 62 The basis of the objec- 
tion Was a constitutional one. Parliament was not to be con- 
sulted with respect to the expenditure of the public money to 
be voted for this purpose and instead of the passage of any 
general act through both Houses the plan was to be effected 
by some bye procedure. It was said that this was too im- 
portant a measure to be passed in that way. Finally, the 
Bishop of London suggested a compromise and Russell 
agreed to meet with the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Arch- 
bishop and two bishops. From this conference a treaty re- 
sulted. 

F. Bill of 1839. 

Toward the progress of the educational plan of the Govern- 
ment Brougham's attitude was first one of generosity, then of 
impatience and finally intolerance. On February 1 4, two 
days affter Russell's explanation of the scheme in the House of 
Commons, in asking for some returns made by Russell in that 
House, he said — M 

"He could not but take that opportunity to express his ex- 
treme satisfaction, and he meant it most heartily, his extreme 
satisfaction at the course taken by the Government in direct- 
ing attention forthwith to the great and important subject of 
national education. This gave him the greatest satisfaction, 
and he should be most willing to enter into the consideration 
of the plan, that they should think proper to introduce, with 
all the disposition possible to support that plan. This was a 
subject to which he had paid very great attention for the last 



61 Ear/ly Correspondence of Lord John Russiell, Vol. I, p. 86. 

62 Hansard, 3 S., XLIX, c. 308. 

63 Ibid., 3 S., XLV, c. 350. 



06 The Work of Lord Brougham 



twenty years of his life, and it was, therefore, natural, 

that he should feel great happiness in seeing the subject taken 
up by the Government. Provided the object he had in view 
were attained, he did not care by what channel, or through 
what discourtesy it was attained. He should give as hearty 
and as effective a support as he could to the measure, if he 
could approve of it upon examination, as if it were his own. 
His noble Friends in the progress of the measure through that 
House should have all the benefits of his experience and the 
assistance of his zeal and he thanked them heartily for having 
taken the subject into their consideration." 

On June 1 0, Brougham announced that he would no longer 
refrain from pressing forward his bill. M Nothing could be 
more absurd than the stories going forth, that the ministry was 
for a great system of national education. His bill applied it- 
self to every part of that important question. As far as the 
constitutional question was concerned Brougham felt that the 
address to the Queen had been fully justified for it was too 
important a measure to be dealt with by Order in Council. 

But the real accomplishment he felt had been small cause 
for alarm. All of the prelate's speech was merely on account 
,of a minister's recognizing the doings of a certain function by 
five members of the Privy Council which heretofore had been 
done by one; namely, superintending the distribution of the 
annual parliamentary grant and establishing one normal 
school, this last having been abandoned. 

"I complain of the system as not going far enough. I re- 
gret that the Government in deference to the senseless appre- 
hensions of some — the miserable affectations of others — and 
the foolish prejudices of the rest — have pared down what 
ought to have been a general measure for the education of 
the people, into a mere plan for founding a single school in 
London and appointing a Committee of their own body to 
superintend the grant of £20,000 or £30,000. I am mortified 

64 Ibid., 3 iS., XLvlIII, c. 90. 



for Education in England 1 7 



that Parliament is not ready to do its duty to the people, that 
after twenty five years spent in deploring the want of public 
instruction in this country, after it has been by all parties con- 
fessed, that the people of England are less educated than 
those of Central Europe, and only better educated than the 
people of Spain or Italy; I aim ashamed of our inglorious sin- 
gularity in this respect, of our shameful exception to the char- 
acter of the age in which we live, that after all that has been 

confessed of the utter inadequacy of our present means 

of education, that all we have been able to 'screw our courage' 
to, has been the asking Parliament for a paltry £30,000, and 
appointing a committee of noblemen to distribute it. But it is 
still more mortifying to find, that there exist millions in this 
country who have been so far childish, thoughtless, and unre- 
flecting, as to be led away by the cry, the clamour, the vulgar 

exploded outcry of danger to the Established Church! 

Who ever thought of introducing any general system of educa- 
tion without consulting the wisdom of Parliament? The law 
stands thus — the Ministry can give away a million of money 
to any person they please, without ever asking your Lord- 
ships' consent. All they have to do is to have a vote of the 
other House." 

He expected to live — "To see the Parliament of England 
perform, at length, its too long-delayed and most sacred duty, 
of giving instruction to all classes, of all descriptions, all ranks, 
and all sects of people, under the broad, universal and eter- 
nal principles of religious as well as civil liberty". to 

He, therefore, proceeded on July 1 5 to move for the sec- 
ond reading of his bill. °" This bill was in substance the same 
as the one of the preceding year. The recent contention 
about religion, he said, should be the occasion of much satis- 
faction. Thirty years before it would have been impossible to 
get such an assemblage of Lords as was present to vote on the 
address to the Crown. In this controversy raised by the 



"•Ibid., 3 S., XLVHI, c. 1313-24. 
M IbfcL, 3 S., XLIX, c. 308. 



08 The Work of Lord Brougham 



Church he was of the opinion that if secular and religious in- 
struction would not combine secular alone should be given 
rather than have people in ignorance. He acknowledged the 
rights of the Church — he granted its endowment by law — but 
law did not say that the people of England should not be 
taught secular learning without the superintendence and con- 
trol of the Church. '" But after infinite discussion and mature 
deliberation he had realized that if a system of secular edu- 
cation only were adopted, teachers of religion must be em- 
ployed, as well as those instructors who were originally en- 
gaged, and that would be too much for the poor to afford. 

He, therefore, proposed that his measure should provide 
that it should not be lawful for the board to sanction the es- 
tablishment of any school in which it was not part of the reg- 
ulations that the authorized version of the Scriptures should 
be taught. Catholics and Jews could withdraw their children 
by signifying their wish in writing. In addition, he proposed 
that if any school, the local directors being members of any 
sect, should choose to lay down as part of its rules that the 
catechism, the liturgy and the Articles of the Church should 
be taught, the board should be allowed to sanction the estab- 
lishment of that school, provisions being made in case of 
children not members of *he Established Church analogous to 
those just alluded to. 6S 

He had been one of the last to see the importance of com- 
bining religious and secular education; but now he was pre- 
pared to say, if he could not get secular instruction unless it 
were coupled with a kind of religious information which he 
disapproved, although he should lament that it was so, and 
he wished it were otherwise, and might have the greatest pos- 
sible desire to see a different kind given — yet, so great was 
his alarm and so great was his fear of the bad consequences to 



Ibid., 3 S., XLVII, c. 764. 
'IbM., 3 S., XLIX, c. 308. 



for Education in England 1 09 



the morality and the peace of society likely to be produced by 
the continuance of the prevailing ignorance, that he should 
much rather have them taught a creed that he disapproved 
than not taught at all. He himself was as much opposed as 
any man to all sectarian and exclusive principles but there was 
nothing which he so much desired to see removed as igno- 
rance. " 9 He was prepared to support a comprehensive plan 
of education which gave some superintendence to the Church 
for the following reasons: — (1 ) There must be some superin- 
tendence and the Church was established. (2) It was the 
Church of the majority. (3) It was one and the sects were 
many and so it was possible and the other impracticable. 
He considered the opinion of the country to have been fully 
pronounced in favor of religious education. 

The bill met the fate of the preceding ones and was forced 
to be withdrawn on account of the lateness of the session. 
But Brougham pointed out the peculiar position in which the 
whole question then stood. If the Lords would conclude the 
session with a resolution to proceed next session by a bill 
they would perform their duty in a manner which would re- 
dound to the honor of Parliament, and to the credit of the 
Government. Nothing had more clearly shown the progress 
of the question than the debate on the subject this session. 
One inference he drew from this debate was that their Lord- 
ships would abdicate one of their greatest privileges if they 
were longer to neglect the establishment on sound, liberal, 
moral and religious grounds of a system of education for the 
people. It naturally struck him, too, that if he were to bring 
in his bill session after session, he was keeping exclusive 
possession of the subject; he was preventing others from tak- 
ing it up who would come to the work with forces of a dif- 
ferent kind to back them, and with more weight in the corn- 



" Itoid., 3 S., XLIX, ,c. 320. 
"MUM., 3 iS., LXXXIX, c. 869. 



1 1 The Work of Lord Brougham 

munity and Parliament than he could pretend to have. He, 
therefore, thought that by withdrawing his bill he would do 
this great subject the best service in his power. 

"Therefore it is that I have come to the resolution, not of 
abandoning this question — Heaven forbid! while I exist that 
is impossible, so woven is it with my heart, so entwined with 
my very nature, that I could not, any more than 1 durst if I 
could, forsake it; but I abandon it in a qualified sense of the 
term. I withdraw from it to leave others more powerful to 
take it up. I give it over to my noble Friend at the head of 
the Government. Let him apply his vigorous and manly un- 
derstanding to the subject. Let him, with all the resources 
at his command, as head of the executive Government, let 
him, with all the assistance of the supporters of the Govern- 
ment in this House, take it up, according either to those prin- 
ciples, which have formed the ground-work of my bill, if it 
so please him, or according to any other or better principles, 
if he prefers them on reflection, and no man will be more 
ready to give up any share in promoting this great proceeding 
than I shall. Let him prepare a bill founded on right prin- 
ciples, and propounded in an enlightened and liberal spirit, 
it is needless to say with what cordial affection I shall greet 
his entering on such a course, and how my ancient attachment 
to him, which has never been altered, will revive in my bosom 
and will make me hail with joy his taking that part which his 
duty prescribes to him, but which his interest as a Minister 
ought to induce him to take, as the certain means, if not of 
carrying this great measure, of encircling his Government with 
a glory which will never fade." " 

The fact that it was possible for others to take the helm in 
the education movement was a real tribute to the service of 
Brougham. What had been able to stand only with his sup- 
port was now able to stand alone. The education question 
had become a popular one. The national conscience had 
been slowly stirring and the State was recognizing the prin- 
ciple that it should be responsible for the education of the 
people. 

71 Ibid., 3 S., L, c. 592. 



for Education in England 1 1 T 

It was an act almost of heroism for Brougham to yield his 
place as dictator, but, since political influence was gone, the 
cause was too dear to his heart for him to hinder its advance- 
ment through a stubborn personal claim of leadership. He 
was now to pass into the position of an independent and un- 
attached critic of the measures and policies of other men. 
G. The Social Science Association. 

Much of Brougham's life was still to be passed where he 
said it should be, in his place in Parliament. Here he followed 
the progress of education with a keen interest; he was free 
with his comments and criticisms and often nagged to action. 

During the last decade of his life his influence in the cause 
of education was exerted mainly through the activity of an or- 
ganization of which he was the principal patron and guide. 
On July 29, 185 7 the "Social Science Association" was form- 
ed, the committee holding its first formal meeting at his house 
in Grafton Street. He was chosen president for the year and 
delivered the inaugural address at the first congress at Bir- 
mingham. He held this office again from 1860 to 1865, 
then became president of the council for a year and finally 
was one of the vice-presidents until his death in 1 868. 2 

The wide and indefinite scope of the departments of the 
association, including Jurisprudence, Education, Punishment 
and Reformation, Public Health, Social Economy, and Trade 
and International Law, pleased him greatly for they seemed 
to represent his own diverse interests. 

In the second department the problem of middle class edu- 
cation was given most prominent attention. ' 3 What had been 
done on the part of the Government for elementary education 
had had no effect upon the middle classes. The common 
media of instruction for their children were boarding and day 



" Tra/nsajotionB of tine National Association for the Promotion of So- 
cial Science, 1858-1868. 
73 Ibid., 1864, p. 2-3. 



1 1 2 The Work of Lord Brougham 

schools opened on private speculation and proprietary 
schools belonging to a number of persons who united for the 
purpose of securing education for their children. But the 
benefits of the elementary system were soon seen to be of in- 
estimable value. The number of schools planted, the pro- 
viding of teachers qualified by training schools, inspectors 
appointed and salaried to secure the performance of duties, 
the qualifying of pupil-teachers and the defraying of the ex- 
pense of employing them — all these advantages were not ex- 
tended to the middle classes who paid a vast proportion of 
this charge. 

In 1859 petitions with 40,000 signers had been presented 
in both Houses of Parliament praying that a greater efficiency 
in middle class school teachers might be obtained by a sys- 
tem of Government inspection with certificates of merit. '* 
Brougham made the matter the subject of his addresses to the 
association and in Parliament. He pointed out that this class 
while not as numerous as the others was nevertheless a most 
important body. " He did not ask that the Government 
should compel private schools to submit to inspection or that 
Government regulations should be enforced upon them; but 
was anxious that some means should be adopted whereby the 
attention of the teachers in ordinary schools might be invited 
to the immense advantage which was derivable from an effi- 
cient system of inspection. If arrangements were to be made 
for permitting all who entered the profession to be trained and 
for granting certificates, which might have the effect of a di- 
ploma or a degree, the character of the teachers would be 
raised and the schools improved. 

The answer given by the Government to the petitions of 
which Brougham had presented one hundred and twenty was 



"Hansard, 3 S., OLV, c 252. 

"The working classes amounted to ibeitween 15 and 16 tmillianis ; the 
upper icllasisiesi to afbave 3 imiiHians ; and the middle |to lesis ithani 1 mil- 
Qlion,. iHanislarid, 3 S., CLXXV, c. 697. 

"Hansard, 3 S., OLV, c. 252. 



for Education in England 1 1 3 



that the Privy Council had not the means of extending the 
system. " But Brougham continued to press the subject and 
in 1 864 introduced a deputation sent by the council of the So- 
cial Science Association to the First Lord of the Treasury urg- 
ing upon him the prayer of the petitioners, that the Govern- 
ment would apply its attention to the subject. " A discussion 
followed which showed that it was impossible for the educa- 
tion of the middle classes to be undertaken by the Govern- 
ment due to the large amount of patronage which it would 
place in their hands and on account of the expenditure of pub- 
lic money on those who could themselves afford to pay for 
the education of their children. '* Brougham was of the opin- 
ion that a commission to inquire into the subject might render 
great service and the same year it was announced in Parlia- 
ment that such a commission would forthwith be issued on 
the whole subject of middle class education. m 

At the congress of the association in 185 7 and 1858 
Brougham's attention had been directed also to a more prac- 
tical side of education. The expediency of requiring a ca- 
pacity and willingness to instruct in other than the ordinary 
accomplishments of music and French and the three R's was 
evident, for he said: 

"There is an absolute necessity for changing, in important 
respects, the method of educating female children, not only in 
the humbler but the better part of the working classes. They 
must be taught things which are of use to them in after life. . . 
A good system of rewards, the judicious application of prizes, 
the due encouragement to successful teachers of common 
things, and a steady determination in the patrons of such 
schools to enforce the most useful teaching in the first in- 
stance, allowing no substitute for it, may put an end to a 



77 Tartans/action® of Nat. Ass. for Promotion of Sooial Science, 1860. 
78 lbM., 1864, p. 2^3. 
"Hamstand, 3 S., OLXXVI, c. 1877. 

80 Tnansaatioms of Nat. Ass. iflor Promotion of Social Science, 1864, 
p. 2-3. 



1 4 The Work of Lord Brougham 



state of matters which has, in some places, produced the 
greatest difficulty of obtaining servants for families otherwise 
well provided, or wives for working men comfortably cir- 
cumstanced." 

H. Conclusion. 

It could truly be stated of Brougham that every branch of 
education had felt his touch. It was said at this time that he 
had "grown gray in talking of education". Si That he had 
grown gray was true but that he had merely talked of educa- 
tion was a false accusation. 

Twenty years before, Samuel Bamford, the Radical, had 
declared: 

"Our educators are, after all, the best reformers, and are 
doing the best for their country, whether they intend so or not. 
In this respect, Lord Brougham is the greatest man we have. 
He led popular education from the dark and narrow crib where 
he found it, like a young colt, saddled and cruelly bitted by 
ignorance, for superstition to ride. He cut the straps from its 
sides and bridle from its jaws, and sent it forth strong, beauti- 
ful and free." 83 

Brougham had lived to see himself considered the patriarch 
of education. A second patent of peerage was granted him in 
1 860, with remainder to his younger brother William and his 
heirs male, an honor conferred in recognition of his eminent 
services in this cause and that of the suppression of slavery. 
In the same year he was made Chancellor of the University of 
Edinburgh. 84 

He did not see his great aim of a national system of educa- 
tion realized. While his specific plans were never accepted 



"■Ibid., 1860. 

8 "- Hansard, 3 S., CLV, c. 349. 

83 Baimfwd, Passages in ithe Life of a Radical and Early Days, Vol. 
II, p. 15. 

84 Dictionary of National Biographiy. 



for Education in England 1 1 5 

in tolo when presented, so much practicability was there in his 
suggestions that they were steps in the slow evolution of a sys- 
tem. The most important improvements, initiated by him, 
passed into the hands and contributed to swell the reputation 
of men whom political partisanship or accidental circumstances 
had rendered for the time more powerful in Parliament. 

His was the task of popularizing education. He espoused 
the cause when it was not easy to be a friend of the people and 
by so doing he gave the movement a powerful stimulus. 

He was ready to form and pronounce judgments while 
others reached only the threshold of questions. *' His service 
to education can best be summed up in the words of Glad- 
stone: 

"It seemed as if a certain instinct led Lord Brougham con- 
tinually to deviate from the path of mere party politics for the 
purpose of anticipating the wants of coming generations and 
preparing the paths which after-coming men were to tread." 



K iFraaer's, 44: 460. 

"Hansard, 3 S., CXCIII, c. 1834. 



1 1 6 The Work of Lord Brougham 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
I. Official Papers and Reports of Societies. 

A. Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. 



The debates are under this title, 1803-1819; 
the New Seniles covers 1819-1830; the Third 
Series, 1830-1891. 

Quotations in this thesiiis retain the form of 
indirect discioursie. 

B. Journals of the House of Commons. 

C. Journals of the House of Lords. 

D. Parliamentary Papers. 

Thlils is a set arbitrarily assembled, number- 
ed and bound, with mlaniisicript title pages by 
P. S. King of London. It is on file in the Li- 
brary of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Vol. 408: Four Reports of the Select Committee on 
the Education of the Lower Orders in the Me- 
tropolis, June 7, 13, 19 and 20, 1816. 

Subjects: Generlal state of the education of 
the lower orders; instituti/oins and charitable 
donation's for promoting education; misappli- 
cation of funds; system of general education; 
universities and great schools. 

Report of the Select Committee on the Edu- 
cation of the Lower Orders in the Metropolis, 
July 7, 1817. 

First Report of the Select Committee on the 

Education of the Lower Orders, March 1 7, 

1818. 

■Recommends' the 'introduction of a bill Cor 
appointing oommisisioners to 'inquire into the 
abuses of charities connected with the educa- 
tion of the poor in England and Walles. 

Second Report of the same Committee, May 
25, 1818. 

Subjects: Parochial and other sicholalts. 



for Education in England 1 1 7 



Third Report of the same Committee, June 
3, 1818. 

Subjects: British and Foreign School So- 
ciety; Eton College; Schools of St. Bees, Win- 
chester, Highgaite, Pocklington, Brentwood, 
Mere, Spital, Yeovill, Huntingdon; educaltfen 
of the poor in Ireland; imsiCiituition for the in- 
struction of the poor at Hiofiwyd, near Berne, 
in Switzerland; Croydon and Wellingborough 
charities. 

Fourth Report of the same Committee, June 
5, 1818. 

Subject: Statutes icif Eton College. 

Fifth Report of the same Committee, June 8, 

1818. 

Subjectts-: Statutes of Trinity and St. 
John's Colleges, Cambridge. 

Vol. 366-399. Thirty-two Reports of the Commis- 

missions appointed to inquire into Charities for 

the Education of the Poor, March 2, 1819 to 

June 30, 1837. 

These reports arfee from the comimisisdJons is- 
sued under the authority of Acts 58 Geo. Ill c. 
91; 59 Geo. Ill c. 81; 5 Geo. IV c. 58; 10 Geo. 
IV c. 57; 2 Wm. IV c. 34; 5 & 6 Wim. IV c. 71. 
They contain an examination into the State at 
the grammar and other schools for gratuitous 
education and into the appropriation of be- 
quests for charitable purposes. 

Vol. 71 1. Report of Commissioners (Newcastle Com- 
mission), appointed 1858, to inquire into the 
state of popular education in England and con- 
sider and report measures for the extension of 
sound and cheap elementary instruction of all 
classes of people, 1861. 

Vol. 716. Report of Commissioners (Taunton Com- 
mission), appointed December 28, 1864, to in- 
quire into education given in schools not com- 



1 I 8 The Work of Lord Brougham 

prised within the scope of the Commissions of 
June 30, 1858 and July 18, 1861 (Clarendon 
Commission on Public Schools), and also to 
consider and report what measures are re- 
quired for the improvement of such education, 
having especial regard to all endowments ap- 
plicable or which can rightly be made applica- 
ble thereto, 1 868. 

E. Statutes at Large. 

F. Report of British and Foreign School Society, 182 7, 

1830, 1836-1837, 1841, 1843, 1844, 1845. 

Report of 1S36 contains copy of Treasury 
Minute of September 11, 1835; the appendix 
of the report of 1841 contains the regulations 
for government grants. 

G. Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education, 

1839, 1841-1842, 1846, 1850-1851. 

H. Recent Measures for the Promotion of Education in 

England. London, 1839. 

Conltalims Treasury M'imute of August 30, 
1833; Land John Russell's letter to rrnsiid.Mit 
of Couniail, February, 1839; Mdnutes icif C KB) 
milttee of Council, April 11, 1S39 & June 3, 
1S39. 

I. Report of National Society, 1840. 

Appttndk c ntains K.cp,u-| o4 C;>innvittee of 
CoiincM, July 15, 1840. 

J. Correspondence of the National Society with the Lords 
of the Treasury and with the Committee of Council 
on Education. Edited by Rev. John Sinclair. Lon- 
don, 1839. 

Appnnnlix conitains Repoilt of Committee of 
Council, June 3, 1839; and extracts from Min- 
utes of Apriil 13, 1839 & September 24, 1S39. 



for Education in England 1 1 9 

II. Works of Lord Brougham. 

A. Works of Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux. Edited 

by A. oc C. Black. 1 I volumes. Edinburgh, 

1872-3. 

B. Lord Brougham's Acts & Bills from 1811 to the Pres- 

ent Time. Collected and arranged by John E. Eard- 
ley Wilmot. London, 185 7. 

C. Addresses at Meetings of Social Science Association. 

Transactions of the National Association for the 
Promotion of Social Science, 1858, 1860, 1861, 
1862, 1863, 1864. 

D. Installation Address at the University of Edinburgh, 

1860. Living Age, 66:67. 

E. Contributions to the Edinburgh Review. 2 volumes. 

London & Glasgow, 1856. 

F. The Critical and Miscellaneous Writings of Henry, Lord 

Brougham, to which is prefixed a sketch of his char- 
acter. Philadelphia, 1841. 

G. Lord Brougham on Education. Edited by J. O. Tay- 

lor. New York, 1839. 

H. Brougham and his early Friends — Letters to James 
Loch, 1798-1809. Collected and arranged by R. 
H. M. Buddie Atkinson and G. A. Jackson. 3 vol- 
umes. London, 1908. 

I. The Life and Times of Henry, Lord Brougham, written 
by himself. 3 volumes. New York, 1871. 

J. Lord Brougham's Opinions on Politics, Theology, Law, 
Science, Education, Literature, as exhibited by Par- 
liamentary and Legal Speeches and Miscellaneous 
Writings. London, 183 7. 

K. Sketches of Public Characters — Discourses and Essays 
to which is added a dissertation on the Eloquence 
of the Ancients. 2 volumes. Philadelphia, 1839. 



120 The Work of Lord Brougham 

L. Brougham's Speeches upon Questions Relating to Pub- 
lic Rights, Duties, and Interests with historical intro- 
ductions prepared by himself. 2 volumes. Phila- 
delphia, 1841. 4 volumes. Edinburgh, 1838. 

M. Selections from the Speeches and Writings of Henry, 
Lord Brougham and Vaux, with a brief memoir of 
his life. London, 1832. 

N. A Full Report of the Speeches delivered by Lord 
Brougham and Vaux at Liverpool on Monday, July 
20th, 1835. Liverpool, 1835. 

O. Taxes on Knowledge, Stamps on Newspapers; extracts 
from the evidence before the Select Committee 
of the House of Commons on Libel Law, June, 
1834. Political Economy Pamphlets, volume 205. 

III. Memoirs and Correspondence. 

A. Passages in the Life of a Radical and Early Days. By 

Samuel Bamford. 2 volumes. London, 1893. (Vol. 
ID- 

B. Recollections of a Long Life, 1786-1852. By Lord 

Broughton (John Cam Hobhouse). 6 volumes. 
London, 1910-1911. (Vol. V). 

C. Sixty Years of an Agitator's Life. By George Jacob 

Holyoake. 2 volumes. London, 1892. (Vol.1). 

D. The Life and Letters of Lady Sarah Lennox. Edited 

by Countess of Ilchester and Lord Stavordale. 2 
volumes. London, 1902. (Vol.11). 

E. The Life and Correspondence of Right Hon. Henry 

Addington, First Viscount Sidmouth. By Henry 
George Pellew. 3 volumes. London, 1847. (Vol. 
III). 

F. The Life of Robert Owen written by himself. 2 vol- 

umes. London, 185 7-1858. (Vol.1). 



for Education in England 1 2 I 

G. Memoirs of the Life of Sir Samuel Romilly written by 

himself; with a selection from his correspondence. 

Edited by his sons. 3 volumes. London, 1840. 

(Vol. III). 
H. The Early Correspondence of Lord John Russell, 

1805-1840. Edited by Rollo Russell. 2 volumes. 

London, 1913. 
I. Autobiography of a Working Man. By A. Somerville, 

London, 1854. 

IV. Periodicals. 

A. Annual Register, 1813-1840, 1856. 

B. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 59. 

C. British Almanac of the Society for the Diffusion of 

Useful Knowledge, 1838, 1842. 

D. British Almanac and Companion of the Society for the 

Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 1838, 1841. 

E. British Quarterly Review, Vol. 26. 

F. Chambers' Journal, Vol. 1 7. 

G. Companion to the Almanac, or Year Book of General 

Information under the Superintendence of the So- 
ciety for the Diffusion of Useful Knowlrdgr, 1828- 

1831, 1834, 1835, 1837. 
H. Companion to the Newspaper and Journal of Facts in 

Politics, Statistics and Public Economy, Vol. I, 2, 

3, 4. 
I. Crisis. Vol. I, 2, 3. 
J. Edinburgh Review, Vol. 1 , 9, II, 17, 19, 21, 25, 28, 

30, 32-36, 38, 41-43, 45-53, 57, 58, 61, 62, 64, 
70, 81, 86, 107, 129, 135. 
K. Fraser's Magazine, Vol. 1 , 2, 4, 9, I 2, I 3, 1 8, 21,31, 
34, 44. 

L. Living Age, Vol. 5, 6, 10, 14, 31, 47, 51, 54, 58, 66, 
1 00, 110, I 30. 



1 2 2 The Work of Lord Brougham 

M. London Magazine, Vol. 1 7. 

N. Mechanics' Magazine, Vol. 1, 2, 3. 

O. New Anti-Jacobin, Vol. 1 . 

P. Pamphleteer, Vol. 1,2 7. 

Q. Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of 

Useful Knowledge, Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. 
R. Quarterly Journal of Education, published under the 

Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Vol. 

I, 2, 3, 4, 10. 
S. Quarterly Review, Vol. 19, 32, 38, 43, 44, 47-49, 53, 

55-57, 76, 105, 126. 
T. Tait's Edinburgh Magazine, new series, Vol. 2, 4, 5, 

12, 15, 25. 
U. Temple Bar, Vol, 23, 32, 34, 47, 62. 
V. The Times, 1820. 
W. Westminster Review, Vol. 15, 23, 41, 112. 

V. Special Works on Miscellaneous Subjects. 

A. History of the Elementary School Contest in England. 

By Francis Adams. London, 1882. 

B. The Educational Systems of Great Britian and Ireland. 

By Graham Balfour. Oxford, 1898. 

C. The Works of Jeremy Bentham, published under the 

superintendence of his executor, John Bowring. 1 1 
volumes. Edinburgh, 1843. (Vol. V). 

D. Century of Education. By Henry Bryan Binns. Lon- 

don, 1908. 

E. Biographies: 

1 . Life of Lord Brougham, in Victorian Chancellors. 

By J. B. Atlay. London, 1906-1908. 

2. Character of Lord Brougham in The English Con- 

stitution. By Walter Bagehot. New York, 1895. 

3. Life of Lord Brougham, in Lives of Chancellors. 

By John Lord Campbell. London, 1 869. 



for Education in England 123 

4. Dictionary of National Biography. 

5. Life of Gladstone. By John Morley. 3 volumes. 

London, 1903. (Vol. I). 

6. Lord John Russell. Edited by Stuart J. Reid. 

London, 1895. 

7. Joseph Lancaster. By David Salmon. London, 
1904. 

8. Life of Francis Place. By Graham Wallas. 

London, 1898. 

F. English Newspapers. By H. R. Fox Bourne. 2 vol- 

umes. London, 1887. 

G. Essays on Education — Central Society of Education 

Publications, Vol. 1, 2, 3. London 1837, 1838, 

1839. 
H. The Manufacturing Population of England. By P. 

Gaskell. London, 1833. 
1. National Education, Its Present State and Prospects. 

By Frederick Hill. 2 volumes. London, 1836. 

J. Essay on Literary, Scientific and Mechanics' Institu- 
tions. By James Hole. Published under sanction 
of Society of Arts, London, 1853. 

K. English National Education. By H. Holman. London, 
1898. 

L. State Intervention in English Education. By J. E. G. 
de Montmorency. Cambridge University Press, 
1902. 

M. London University. By James Bass Mullinger, in 1 1 th 
edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1910-191 1. 

N. England in 1835. By Frederick von Raumer; trans- 
lated from German by Sarah Austin &c H. E. Lloyd. 
Philadelphia, 1836. 

O. Infant Schools their History and Theory. By David 
Salmon and Winifred Hinshaw. London, 1904. 



124 The Work of Lord Brougham 

P. Four Periods of Public Education as reviewed in 
1832, 1839, 1846, 1862. By Sir James Kay Shut- 
tleworth. London, 1862. 

Q. Public Education as affected by the Minutes of the 
Committee of Council, from 1846 to 1852. By Sir 
James Kay Shuttleworth. London, 1853. 

R. The Social Condition and Education of the People. 
By Sir James Kay Shuttleworth. London, 1850. 

S. History of the Middle and Working Classes. By John 
Wade. London, 1835. 

VI. Bibliographical Aids. 

A. A Bibliographical List of Lord Brougham's Publica- 

tions arranged in Chronological Order. By Ralph 
Thomas. London, 1873. 

The list was comipiled expnesslly for Messrs. 
A. & C. Black's edit!Lo in oif Ixwd Biiiauigtam'is 
Works. 

B. Bibliography of Education. By Will S. Monroe. In- 

ternational Education Series edited by Wm. T. 
Harris, Vol. 42. New York. 1897. 

C. Catalogue of Parliamentary Reports and a Breviate of 

their Contents, 1696-1834. Ordered by House of 
Commons to be printed, August 15, 1834. Lon- 
don, 1836. 

D. Digest of the Parliamentary Papers for the Session, 

1837-1838. Compiled by John Henry Barrow. 
London, 1839. 



INDEX 



Adams, Dr., head-master of Edin- 
burgh High School, 1. 

Address to Queen, 1839, 105. 

Adult education, 55; -advocated in 
Brougham's "Practical Observa- 
tions", 58; absence of Govern- 
ment assistance for, 59. 

Bell, Dr. Andrew, schools of Na- 
tional Society based on ideas of, 
12. 

Birkbeok, Dr., Professor of Na- 
tunal Philosophy at Andersonian 
University, 55; starts course of 
lectures for working men, 1800, 
56; one of founders of Society t 
the Diffusion of Useful Knowl- 
edge, 66. 

Book clubs, suggested as means 
of adult education, 61. 

Britten Almanac, 69. 

British and Foreign School S 

5; formation of, 10; principles of, 
10; terms of admission to, fn 
10; Brougham takes chair at 
meeting of, in 1835, 12; education 
grants to be diiist iibuted by, 83. 

Brougham, Henry, early life of, in 
Edinburgh, 1; beginning of resi- 
dence of, in London, 5; member 
of Royal Lancastrian Associa- 
tion, 9; entrance of, into Parlia- 
ment, 10; resolution for fjoirma- 
tion of British and Foreign 
School Society moved by, 10; 
estrangement of, from British 
and Foreign School Society in 
1820, 11; chairman of meeting cif 
I'.ritisih and Foreign School So- 
cety in 1835, 12; estimate of 
Lancaster's work given by, 12; 
takes Lead In cause of education, 
13; given seat in Parliament for 
Winoheisea in 1815, 14 : chair- 
man of committee to inquire into 
education of the lower oirdens of 
iflhe metropolis in 1816, 15; 
chairman iof select committee 
on education in 1817, 19; 'chair- 
man of education comimittee of 
1818, 20; first report of commit- 
tee of 1818 made by, 21; motion 
tar ohanlfey commission made by, 
23; biill for ohartitw commission 
presented by, 23; defends bill in 
'committee 'Of wfbole, 24; attitude 
'of, toward amendments in 



House of Lords, 26; motijon by, 
for addresses to Prince Regent, 
27, 28; desires to be charity 
oomimlissioner, not included in 
'Chaniity commission, 30; investi- 
gation of higher schools in 1818 
by, 31; comments of, on Chari- 
table Foundations Bill in 1819. 
36; Peel's oriitiCis/m of, 37; de- 
fense of, againat Peel, 38; 
petitions of Robert Owen pre- 
sented by, 50; admiration 
of, for Owen, 50; visits Ow- 
en's infant school, 52; opin- 
ion of the 'infant School giv- 
en by, 52; visits Fellenberg's 
ustablishmenit at Hofwyfl, 52; 
helped establish infant school at 
Brewer's Green, 53; patron of 
London Mechanics' Institute, 
57; "Practical Observations on 
the Education of the People" by, 
58; interest in 'mechanics' insti- 
tutes, 65; plan of, !' r anonymous 
lectures, 65 : formed oommiiltte^ 
for founding the Society for the 
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 
66; contributions of, to the 
Ciety, 67, 70; eflfect )ctf the pat- 
ronage of, 70; suggests forma- 
tion of London University, 73; 
application for Charter made by, 
76; returned to Parliament for 
York in 1830, 79; received great 
seal, 79; secured first education 
grant, 82; flavored voluntary 
system, 84; rip posed bo compul- 
sory education, 81, 96; favoTed 
establishment of normal schools, 
86; favored repeal of "taxes on 
knowledge", 86, 89 : gave evi- 
dence on Libel Law,' 87 : deprived 
of Chancellorship, 90; presented 
14 resolutions, 91; proposed a 
board of education, 93, 98; pre- 
sented education bills in 1837 & 
1838, 94; bills of, defeated by 
Church of England in 1838, 100; 
attitude of, toward Lord John 
Russell's plan, 105; presented 
bill in 1839, 106; attitude of, to- 
ward religious instruati|cin, 107; 
withdrew from education ques- 
tion, no; helped establish So- 
cial Science Association, ill; 
presented petitions to Parliament 
for middle class education, 112. 



126 



The Work of Lord Brougham 



made Chancellor of University 
of Edinburgh, 114; Gladstone's 
estimate of, 114. 
Buchanan, James, guardian of in- 
fant school at New Lanark, 51; 
•master at infant school at 
Brewer's Green, 53. 

Charity Commission, suggested, 17; 
Ml for, in ISIS, 20, 21, 23; op- 
positiioin to bill floir, outside of 
PaiUlianvent, 23; amendments to 
bill for, in House cff Lords, 25; 
reappointed, fin. 39; Brougham 
chairman of, in 1S36 & 1S37, fn. 
39. 

Charity schoolsi, endowed, 7; un- 
endowed, 7; for working classes, 
7. 

Charitable Foundations Bill, 1819, 
introduced by Lord Casltlereiagh, 
35; provisions of, 35. 

Committee of the Privy Council on 
Education, 101; 'proposed by 
Lord John Russell. 102. 

Commlittee om the Kdu cart ion of 
the Lower Orders of tihe Metrop- 
olis, 1816, 15 : Broughaim, chair- 
man of, 15; laianaula/r letter sent 
by, 15; reports of, 17-18. 

Companliloin to the Almanac, 69. 

Dame sdhools, fior working classes, 
7, 8; inferior it/a infant schools, 
53. 

Department of Public Jmstructd'on, 
proposed by Brougham, 94, 98. 

Edinburgh Review, fiirsit oontribu- 
tons to, 3; Brougham's contri- 
butions to, 3, 5; Channel fior 
publication of Bnougtham's views, 
4; article toff Bnougihuun in, Oc- 
tober, 1824, 58. 

Edinburgh .Society of Arts, 56. 

Education, istaitlisltics in regard to, 
6. 14, 41; means of, for wealthy 
pensions, middle Classes ami 
woirking classes, 6. 

Kdiiration Bill of 1820, 39; un- 
Eorftujnialte moment fior presenta- 
tion of, 40; four heads of, 42; 
power given to Church off Eng- 
land in, 47; opposition to, 47; 
defeated, 49. 

Education Bill of 1837 & of 1838. 
94; of 1839. 105. 



Education Digest, begun, 32; par- 
tially completed, 40. 

Elementary education, 14; peti- 
t'ii inis for, in 1833, 80; in 1837, 
95; investigation off isibalte off, by 
Lord Kerry's Commission, 80; 
Mr. Roebuck's motion fior, SI; 
first money grant fior, 83; 
Brouglhani presents fourteen 
resolutions on, 91; Ootmniittee of 
Pi-ivy Council on Education for 
supervision .of, 101. 

Endowments, old edueatlilon, Kill for 
improvement of, 49; bill defeat- 
ed, 49. 

Established Church, conltrloll off, 
over education recommended in 
1818, 34; powers given to, by bill 
off 1820, 47; opphslition of, to hill 
lof 1S3S, 100. 

h\wt:ory sdhools, floir working 
classes, 6; influence of Factory 
Art of 1802 on, 7. 

Farmers' book clubs, 64. 

Farmers' Series, in library of 
Useful Knowledge, 69. 

Glasgow Medhanlios' Institution, 56. 

Home and Colonial Infant School 
Society, 54. 

Infant sdbool, 50 : established by 
Owen at New Lanark, 50; Pei- 
lenberg's, 52; at Brewer's Green, 
Wesitmirtslter, 53; success of 
Brougham's, 54; assistance of 
Govennm ent fior, not esse ottlal, 
54; a preventive of crime, 92. 

Journal of Educatoion, 69. 

King's College, principles of, 77; 
iflonnded, 77. 

Lancia siter, Joseph, school of, at 
Borough Road, 5; Royal Lancas- 
trian Association, formed to as- 
sist, 9; school of, at Tooting, 10. 

Lent nr os, suggested as means of 
adult education, 61; not to be 
gratuitous, 62; plan for anony- 
mous , 65. 

l.iihriirios. suggested as i means of 
adult education, 61* spread of, 
63. 



for Education in England 



127 



Library of Entertaining Knowledge, 
68. 

Library of Useful Knowledge, 67. 
Loidh, James, friend of Brougham, 

2, 4. 

London Mechanics' Institute, 
founded, 56; theater bulilt for, 57. 

London University, 73 : suggested 
by Brougham in "Practical Ob- 
servations", 73; plan for, 75; ob- 
jects of, 75; charter of, applied 
for, 76; opening of, 77; action 
of, limited to institution of ex- 
aminations and conferring of de- 
grees, 78. 

Mechanics' institute, the, relation 
of Dr. Birkbeck's work to, 55; 
of 1817 iin Lonidioin, 56; spread of, 
63; curriculum of, 64; Brough- 
am's interest iin, 65; opposition 
Ito, 70-72; declliine of, 72; of Man- 
chester, Brougham's address to, 
72. 

Misapplication of charitable funds, 
reported to education commit- 
tees, 17, 20. 21. 

Momlirtorial system, controversy as 
to origin of, 12. 

National Society, founded, 11 • 
principles of, 11; term® of ad- 
mission to, fn. 11; education 
grants to be distributed by, 83. 

Owen, Robert, "New Vlilew of So- 
ciety" by, 50; petitions of, to 
Parliament, 50; explanation' of 
system of schools by, to educa- 
tion oommlilbtee in 1816, 51; "New 
Institution" of, at New Lanark, 
51; Infant school of, 51. 

Peel, Sir Robert, criticizes Broug- 

biam in Parliament, 37. 
Penny Cyclopaedia, 70. 
Penny Magazine, 70. 
Place, Francis, observations of, on 

opportunities for education, 74; 

opposition of, to "taxes on 

knowledge", 87. 
"Practical Observations on thej 

Education of the People", 58. 
Religions instruction, Brougham's 

attitude toward, in 1839, 108. 



Romilly, Sir Samuel, bill of, in 
1812, 22; helps toi prepare bill 
for charity ooinmisslion, 23. 

Russell, Lord John, proposes Com- 
mittee of Privy Council on Edu- 
cation, 102; scheme of education 
explained by, 103; postpones 
plan fjor model school, 104. 

Schools of industry, for working 
classes, 6, 7. 

Select Committee on Education, 

1817, appointed, 19. 

Select Committee on Education, 
1818, appointed, 20; inquiry of, 
to embrace England, Scotland 
and Wales, 20; reports of, 21, 
31; investigates higher schools, 
31; plans of, for universal edu- 
cation, 32. 

Social Science Association, 111; 
Brougham, president and chief 
patron of, 111; scope of depart- 
ments of, 111; advocates im- 
provement of middle class edu- 
cation, 111. 

Societies for the promotion of con- 
versation, suggested as means of 
adult education, 61. 

Society for the Diffusion of Useful 
Knowledge, formation of, 66; 
publications of, 67-70; opposition 
to, 70. 

Society fpa* the Promotion of 
Christian Knowledge, establish- 
ment of unendowed charilty 
scihools by, 7. 

Special visiitors, charities with, 
exempted from investigation, 26. 

Sunday School movement, inaugu- 
rated by Robert Raikeis, 7. 

"Taxes on Knowledge", 86; oppo- 
sition tja, by Francis Place, 87; 
Brougham's evidence against, 87; 
reduced in 1836, 89. 

Universities, restrictions of edu- 
cation at the, 74. 
University OoMege, London, 78. 

Whitbread, education bill of, in 
1807, 13, 39; subsiding of preju- 
dices against, 40. 

Wilderspin, teacher of infant 
school at Spitalfiields, 54. 

Young, May, guardian of infant 
school at New Lanark, 51. 







,°^. 






H 



"% 









<- 



- 



^ 1 













N> 









OCT 



^ V * 






























lV 































































Oo 



























■ 










































> 












" 
























o cr 










































V 








; 




















"f"^w 



mmmSLSF CONGRESS 



» " II I II 

022 125 761 3 






HP 
mm 

fciSf 



II 

MB— 

HI 

i- 



